Bassett's broken biplanes*

 * also featuring Tim's terrible triplanes and mangled Morane monoplanes.

John B very kindly passed me this box of veterans at COW a few weeks ago.  The Demon I came up with an immediate plan for and the Albatross looked useful too.  I was delighted to see the Morane as I didn't have one!  The others have been passed to PHW who has also borrowed the Morane for some photos.

The Morane - an old Revell kit I believe - was in pretty good shape.  I have previously bodged one from a Fokker E1 but it's nice to have a 'real' one. I firmed up the attachment of some extremities.  The decals were flaky but looked largely salvageable and several coats of varnish gave a respectable finish.

Olympic games? Part 2

With the basic build complete I slapped on a black undercoat.  During this process a surprisingly small number of parts fell off.  Then it was on to the actual paintwork.  I didn't go with the white of the original as I wanted a generic 'big rusty battleship' look.   So far so good then....
 

Olympic games? Part 1

If building dodgy old plastic kits is ever recognised as a sport by the International Olympic Committee I think readers of this blog could put up a pretty strong team. Though turning up in a cloud of polystyrene cement fumes might cause issues with the drug testing equipment...

Anyway, on to this dodgy old kit.  Purchased from the COW bring & buy a few years ago with no particular plan in mind, it seemed like a useful thing to have in stock.  Inspiration struck a few months ago, meaning I'd have to build the thing.

The original USS Olympia is perhaps best know as the US flagship at Manilla Bay in 1898.  Decommissioned the following year, she returned to service as a training ship in 1902 and subsequently saw service in the Great War.  Perhaps her most poignant voyage was made in 1921 when she carried the remains of the US's unknown soldier home from France.

So much for history.  I have two game ideas which require this model - in neither of which will it be a US warship...  But rusty old battleships all look similar and that meets my consistently low standards.

The build was not without challenges - forgivable in view of it's price and antiquity.  As you can see, a lot of masking tape was used to hold it together while the (copious amounts of) glue dried.  So now it's starting to look like a ship.

Nieuport 12ish - part 1

For a game I have in mind I need a French two-seater.  There being none available in 1/72 - at least none I could find - I decided to bodge something along the lines of the Albadross.  

I had this kit in stock and selected it as my victim. I had in mind the Nieuports 10 and 12 which saw service with the RFC and Italy as well as the French air service. It didn’t look much like the N28 but as it had the correct quantity of wings and engines I decided it was close enough. 

I hacked out a second cockpit and added a couple of figures from this useful Orion set. 

It doesn’t really look big enough to be a two-seater, though the real N12 was only slightly bigger than the N28. While the glue dries I’ll think about colour schemes. 

Hurried Hasegawa Heinkel - part 2. Off to Spain...

 Here is the finished item, resplendent in Spanish Nationalist markings.

And here it is flying over some boxes of toys being readied for last week's games.

Heller Horror - French P-47 Thunderbolt - part 2

The dodgy Thunderbolts are finished and I offer as evidence these terrible photos.  

20 Escadre de Chasse is ready for action - I expect they'll look a lot better when viewed from the correct distance (6 feet plus) on the lawn at Knuston in July.  Maybe.

Heller horror - French P-47 Thunderbolt - part 1

In need of some close air support from the French in Algeria c1960, a bit of research led me to remember I had some 1/72 Thunderbolts which would fit the bill.  These were bought some years ago in a sale for only £1 each.  It's as well they were cheap as the review on the excellent and very useful Modelling Madness website opens with the words:  "Seldom do I see a kit that has nothing whatsoever to recommend it.  The Heller P-47N is one of those rare few."

So with my expectations well and truly managed I sliced open the bags (these kits came to me minus boxes) and set about them.  Rendered in silver-grey plastic, most of the parts were quite crisply moulded with very little flash. 

The fit wasn't brilliant though and much masking tape was employed to hold parts together while the glue dried.

I gave them an overall undercoat in matt black and then slapped on Revell silver to give a well-worn look.  Despite the review, they look like Thunderbolts to me.

I painted on the tail stripes and then went off to plunder the Decal Box for suitable French roundels.

Hurried Hasegawa Heinkel - part 1

 

I’ve had this ancient kit for a while and dug it out to build a few weeks ago. It’s moment finally arrived yesterday.  

Being a kit of a certain vintage the parts are reassuringly few in number.  Aside from a few issues with flash the parts fit was really pretty good. The decal sheet is rather past it’s best but I don’t need the Luftwaffe markings anyway. Regular readers will have already guessed why.  

After allowing the sub-assemblys to dry overnight, I glued it all together.  It certainly looks like an He.51 to me!  

Kosher Cobras - part 2

Here are the completed AH-1 Cobras resplendent in (ancient and slightly flaky) Israeli decals. Not the greatest kits but I did mention they were at least cheap!

Kosher Cobras - part 1

I picked up these ‘Mistercraft’ kits a while back. I remember being surprised at how cheap they were but having built them I understand why!  You can see for the volume of tape holding everything in place how dodgy is the parts fit. 

I largely ignored the kit markings as this pair is destined for Israeli service, so a rummage in the decal box is required. 

F-104 Starfighter - Turkish Air Force

The next bit of pointy plastic to be rescued is this F-104 Lawn Dart.  Like the F-100 is is in the rather low key livery of the Turkish AF, though the green nosecone adds some interest.  The second photo is just to prove I painted underneath too....

F-100 Super Sabre - Turkish Air Force

The ancient F-100 is now complete and sports Turkish markings over some rather 'pre-owned' paintwork.  Why Turkish?  Well let's just say that a few weeks ago Bertrand and I had a chat about the 1974 invasion of Cyprus....

Pointy plastic plane perpetuation - part 1

It will come as no surprise to learn that I have a box of broken bits of 1/72 aircraft models. Ten weeks of lockdown finally forced me into lifting the lid to confront the horrors therein. The pair in this post are by no means the worst!
The Cold War warriors among you will have instantly identified an F-104 Starfighter and an F-100 Super Sabre[1]. Various loose bits were duly reattached and a black undercoat slapped on.

I opted for a ‘bare metal’ finish so the black was topped with a coat of Revell silver. The finish is intentionally rough as (a) it’s all these models deserve, and (b) for the role I have in mind they need to have a decidedly ‘pre-owned’ appearance. 

I’m not sure what make the Starfighter is but the Sabre is an ancient Revell kit - the evidence is embossed on the tail!

[1] although more than one correspondent incorrectly identified it as a MiG-19. Splash another friendly...

Big name for a tiny tank

I picked up this set a few months ago as I had a (vague and as yet unrealised) idea for a game. As the photos suggest, the box contains the makings of three figures and two Goliaths, making it a pretty handsome buy for under £10.

Hurried Hurricane part 2 - a surprise ending?

Well it was to me. Having commenced the build of this ancient Revell Hurricane with no particular plan in mind I eventually decided to follow up my recent La-7 and finish it as a Soviet machine in much the same colour scheme.

I hand painted some shaky stripes on the tail and the decal box provided the rest.  Given that the Hurricane is  - certainly to my eyes - such a distinctive shape it's quite difficult to make it  look 'different'.  I hope you think it's a success.

A-7 Corsair II part 1 - dust, plastic and glue

This was part of a batch of stuff I picked up a couple of years ago and was described by its vendor as incomplete - part of the canopy being missing. Given the deterioration of the box I decided to dig it out and rescue what I could for spares.  Imagine then my delight when the ‘missing’ part was discovered!

Work was begun and this being and old kit, it was pretty simple. I never had this kit as a lad but I did have the Revell version at too young an age. I remember it a a lot of explody things surrounding a fairly small aeroplane. This Airfix kit would have been expensive as it’s a Series 3.