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Boris Grgić
33 articles

Kovozavody Prostejov 1/48 Marchetti SF260

July 28, 2021 · in Aviation · · 18 · 2K

It's been about 15 months since I quit smoking after 23 years of addiction. Consequently I found hard to spend hours sitting in one place assembling models, so I made a year long break from modeling. Whole this time this bird's been sitting in my stash waiting for my nerves to get strong enough. So this is my comeback build - Air Force basic trainer - very nice plane but very difficult kit to handle. It took about a week of time and a lot of putty.

Reader reactions:
14  Awesome

13 additional images. Click to enlarge.


18 responses

  1. This is a wonderful result out of this challenging kit, Boris.
    Love it sitting by the Cessna.
    Good to see you back!

  2. Very neat work, Boris, and well done with breaking the niccotine habit, definitely liked.

  3. Well worth the wait Boris, great work.
    It’s like seeing a Belgian flag ready to fly, with teeth!

  4. Great work @grgast! And congrats on kicking the smoking habit as well. That is worthy of celebration in and of itself; that you're back to building scale models is even better! 🙂

  5. Hi Boris.
    Being Belgian, I am partial to making Belgian Military models ! As well as a few other themes...
    The Marchetti is a real performer and your model shows the sleekness of this machine. Well done.
    Quitting bad habits like smoking is tough. I started model making again in part for the same reason. Giving the Addictive brain a break from excesses. In my case having too many Beers ! I model for an hour, when I can , around cocktail hour !

    • Yeeeaaah...beers...I'll deal with that some other time XD. If you ask people in Croatia what is Belgium most known for, 90% will answer - Stella Artois, my favorite foreign beer.

  6. Great looking model - love the scheme, especially the shark-mouth (or wolf?) on a trainer - that's a first (for me, at least). Nicely done.

    • Thank you Greg. Generally I prefer taking rest from military aviation from time to time and jump into civilian aviation. This paint scheme belonged to "Hardship Red" Belgian aerobatic display team, formed in 2008, renamed to "Red Devils" and repainted in 2011. Not sure what's the connection to the wolf/shark.

      1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

  7. At least during this build you had your nerves perfectly under control, Boris.
    You turned this challenging kit into a beautiful build.
    Congratulations on stopping the smoking habbit.

  8. Congratulations on beating your addiction and coming back to another . . . modeling that is. Which is better for your health. Some say its therapy.

    Like the Marchetti SF260. It always is a sexy Italian aircraft and Boris you have done a good job of bring the best out of this kit.

    Two thumbs up.

    • Thx Stephen...I'm into plastic modeling since I was a teenager and last 7 years I'm into airsoft, so I guess I have a thing for expensive addictions. Not sure this build was better for my health considering I was dealing with enamel paints and thinner XD. I must agree; Marchetti SF260 is one of the sexiest little machines I've seen, glad to have it in my display case.

  9. Nice work on this Boris. I have the Special Hobby take on the SF-260 to do here.

    As to cigarettes, 31 years ago this month, after having had three cases of "bronchitis" in a year, with the most recent one lasting six weeks, I woke one morning, went to the writing office with my coffee and lit a cigarette. Started coughing immediately and this time there was blood. Went to the local ER, where they took an X-ray. Then the ER doctor gave me a guided tour of the "areas of inelasticity" in my lungs. "This is the incipient emphysema. If you stop now, it won't get worse, but it's unlikely to get better." Thoroughly chastened by that, I went to my car to go home, and tossed the pack of cigarettes on the seat. Haven't smoked since.

    What I found was a good way to keep myself on the straight and narrow was a rule that, for each month I didn't smoke, I got to spend that money on something I really liked doing - in my case, models - but it had to be spent that next month, no "saving up," because tobacco is a "I want it now" immediate gratification addiction. With the prices of tobacco products being what they are these days, you should have no trouble affording any of the modern "super kits." 🙂

    Oh, and it turned out the ER doctor was wrong about it not "getting better." Just had the annual run-through with my doctor and blood oxygenization is 98%.

    • Sorry to hear about your experience, in most cases developing health problems is the only way to make an addict quit. My father didn't manage to quit even doctors suspected lung cancer few years ago (fortunately turned to be just pneumonia). Fortunately I didn't come that far, I actually really enjoyed nicotine. Then one day last spring I was looking at my two little daughters (2y and 4y) and felt ashamed for turning good part of my salary into smoke instead of spending that money on them. I smoked one for good bye and never smoked since. Now we use that money to go for family trips few times per year. Whatever the reason for quitting, it's great achievement for any smoker.

  10. Nice build, Boris (@grgast). Nice to see a plane with something other than camouflage. Habits can be tough to break, and I am glad that smoking is one I never started.

  11. Always nice to see a colorful well made model.

  12. Great job on your build, a very attractive looking plane.

  13. Very nice and a great color scheme!

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