Short Sunderland 111 Airfix 1/72
Hello all, here is my latest completed build and a few shots of my next project continuing my current interest in building vintage Airfix kits , these two are both older than me and I am 58 !
The Sunderland is a very basic kit with virtually no interior and the usual massively overscale rivets which is typical of vintage Airfix kits and which like my previous Stirling I completely removed, the clear parts were very thick with frame lines being difficult to see which I got round by using a masking set from Hannants although the only masks I could use were for the canopy so the gun turrets were done (badly) with masking tape ,my kit turned up from ebay with decals yellowed and giving every indication of being unusable so I sourced a new set from again from Hannants and went with the two colour option , the decal sheet is by Airframe decals coastal command WW11 - part 2 and offers some interesting options for other kits including a white and camo Halifax.
Although most of the cockpit interior is difficult to see due to the thickness of the plastic I did add a bulkhead wall behind the seats otherwise the kit would be fully open all the way down its length.
I found the colour scheme surprisingly difficult to reproduce considering it is only two colours because the demarcation line between the white and the grey is very unforgiving, this is quite apparent on the grey of the fuselage top which is not symmetrical ,still they were painted by hand and so were probably not perfect anyway , (well that's my excuse !) and with hindsight if I were doing another I would choose a decal sheet that offered a full camo on the fuselage sides.
I enjoyed this project and would recommend the kit to anyone interested in a bit of nostalgia.
Speaking of nostalgia I have included some shots of my next project bought from ebay for £30, I could tell from the box art that this was a very early moulding , my philosophy being when building vintage kits to find the oldest kit you can as the moulds were newer and so the parts will be better however I did not know that the Airfix Lancaster B1/B111 that we are all familiar with , you know the one with the Lancaster returning from a mission one engine ablaze is not the first Lancaster kit Airfix produced ,the one I got is even older and extremely basic as you can see, still I buy them to build so it will be done , the decals are beyond use so if anyone has a set to trade or knows if they are available for this particular aircraft please let me know.
Cheers Neil.
Hi Neil, I remember getting the first Airfix Lancaster for Christmas when it was originally released in the 1950s. I thought it was great, spinning propellers, moving gun turrets, I had it finished by Boxing Day. My brother got the Wellington. I never had the Sunderland, but yours looks great, it’s even bigger than the Lancaster. Those were definitely the days. It was about that time that Humbrol first released their silver paint, that was a revolution.
It looks ok as long as you don't look to closely haha , I'd call it a six footer.
Thanks for looking George.
Amazing result from the vintage Airfix kit, Neil!
Well done!
Thanks Spiros and thanks for the info on Kos as well.
The CC scheme is always beautiful and your Sunderland looks splendid in it, Neil @neil-foster!
Thanks Felix , if I'm honest I think it's a bit too white.
Very nice! Love those old kits - at least they had crew! (though they are of another species I do believe 🙂 )
Cheers Greg, I didn't use the crew though. Thanks for looking.
Really nice. I would love to build one but in 1:48 it would be huge
Yeah a real monster ! I wouldn't be surprised if there was a vac form out there somewhere. Thanks for looking.
Great job, she's a beauty! I love seeing the old kits put together and displayed.
Thanks Bob, I'm really enjoying my current interest in vintage kits.
Nice work, Neil. The only big Airfix 1/72 kits I never built were the B-29 and the Sunderland. I’m actually still considering that Sunderland. The newer Italeri and Special Hobby kits both have problems of their own. You’ve demonstrated what can be done with the kit very well.
Cheers John, there are some good ones on YT, especially a modeler called Plasmo has turned out an exceptional build of this kit.
A fine result on that Sunderland, Neil @neil-foster
Last year I was able to see and enter one in the RAF museum in London, such a huge and impressive aircraft, even yours in 1/72 must still be quite big.
Thanks John, it's bigger than the Stirling I recently posted.
Wow, Neil. Nice work on this vintage kit! Nice paintwork.
I'd hate to ask how much white paint was required for proper coverage.
I loathe painting with white, ugh!