Simon's 1/72 Airfix Fokker Friendship

[theconfidencestoat]

I was going to do the rebox of the Airfix 707 for this ( and still may if time allows), but I saw all the 1/72 prop jobs on the go and thought I would look out my old boxing Airfix DC3 and do the BEA version. However I found a long forgotten boxing of the Airfix 1/72 Fokker Friendship so I have dragged that out instead. It was re-released about 2005 I think with Trans Australia Airline decals, and this is the version which adorns the box lid, so I'm doing that instead. Pictures soon.

[VickersVandal]

A TAA Friendship - brilliant!

That brings back childhood memories....some involving fairly hectic airsickness....

[VickersVandal]

Did you manage to make a start on this in the end?

[theconfidencestoat]

Yes indeed. Some camera issues have contributed to me not uploading some pictures, but I have some from my phone which I will put-up shortly. The airframe is complete and I just have to wait for some putty to dry right now so I can finish off sanding the nose cone in, and I'll get some paint on her. 2 August is still realistic !

[PaulBradley]

Hi Simon - how's it going there?

[theconfidencestoat]

Well it's going ! I just need to airbrush the de-icing boots and I can decal it. Pictures coming up in the next couple of hours. As usual been a busier month than I anticipated.

[theconfidencestoat]

Here is the kit. I submitted some flying hours back in 2009 and this was the kit that I received ( not the one I had selected ). Been in the stash since, and I thought this build is likely to be the only time I get motivated to build it, so here she is.

[theconfidencestoat]

Here is the obligatory sprueshot. Apologies for posting these all at once, but it has been a busy month and there have been some camera/ phone issues.


Sorry about the upside down, photobucket can't seem to deal with rotation at the moment.

[theconfidencestoat]

The molds are 5 years older than me. It has separate control surfaces, and judging by the mounting for the mains, I think that the undercarriage may have been retractable, but that feature has thankfully been laid to rest in this boxing.

[theconfidencestoat]

Plenty of noseweight required. Fishing sinkers and superglue in this case.

[theconfidencestoat]

The fit of the kit overall has been pretty good. The transparencies in the cabin are lamentable though, and seem to have been made for a different aperture. I have glued them in, but I did toy with the idea of trying to full the holes with PVA. The airframe went together reasonably well, with some fettling and filler required at the wing roots and on the fuselage join.

[theconfidencestoat]

The nose needed a bit of white putty to smooth it in properly.

[theconfidencestoat]

The cabin doors fitted where they touched the edges, and had reasonable gaps, so filler was applied to them also.

[theconfidencestoat]

I dislike these types of cockpit transparency and would prefer o use a decal, but a bit noticeable on 1/72, so it's masked and in place. Not a bad fit actually, a bit of pva around the edges to blend it in.

[theconfidencestoat]

IN the paint shop. I use Tamiya white primer and Tamiya Pure White in rattle cans for airliners. And I only just had enough of each.