Matchbox 1/72 Supermarine Stranraer
The Supermarine Stranraer was designed by R.J. Mitchell, yes he also designed the Spitfire! First flown in July 1934, the Stranraer entered frontline service with the RAF during 1937 and undertook anti-submarine and convoy escort patrols during the early years of the conflict. During March 1941, the Stranraer was withdrawn from frontline service, but continued to be operated in a training capacity until October 1942. A total of 17 were made in England.
The Stranraer were also made in Canada by the Canadian Vickers company and they produced 40 total. The Canadian Stranraer stayed in service up to the early part of 1944. In November 1944, 20 aircraft that had been withdrawn from active service in February earlier that year were purchased for civilian use, before being registered in Canada or the US.
The last flying Stranraer flew up to 1966. This remaining example is now displayed at the RAF Museum London, which is Canadian made.
This is another of my old builds that I just recently finished restoring from my shelf of forgotten builds. I built this kit in 1986 and I remember this as a very nice kit to build. It is a straight out of the box build, I added seat belts, rigging and aerial cables. I used light weight fishing lines for the rigging but I am now not sure about the aerial cables. It might be fishing line or stretched sprue.
I used Tester's rattle spray can Chrome Silver and gave it a gloss coat of Future. I used the decals from the kit and this is how it stayed for 39 years until my recent clean up. Some of the rigging lines needed repairs and a replacement of the missing forward machine gun.
After the cleaning was done, I highlighted all of the flight control surfaces, panel lines, added the engine's exhaust streaks and dirtied up below the water line. I also replaced the missing forward gun from a box with spare parts. Some small areas needed some paint touch ups like the engine's exhaust collector rings, propeller's spinners, and on a few small spots on the ailerons. I also had to repaint each main wheel.
At the end I gave it a semi-flat clear coat to tie this all together which it did quite nicely. All and all, not bad. I am 50/50 on how I dirtied below the water line.
This is a great Matchbox kit that does a very nice job representing the Stranraer.
Looks like the big brother of the equally gorgeous Walrus. Great work on this model, love the rigging. Must have been some sight to behold to see this giant take to the air.
Thank you Stellan @stellan! I wish I could find a photo with both the Walrus and Stranraer next to each other. The hull and the way the wings are set up almost looks identical. That would be a sight to see one fly.
I wish I had YouTube back in 1986 before I built this kit.
clean and highly detailed build - nice work!
Thank you Kevin @heywooood!
Hard to believe this is a Matchbox kit, Bob (@v1pro). Well done!
Thank you George @gblair! Matchbox had some really nice ones back then. This one is still the only game in town.
Another fantastic model Bob @v1pro !
It looks great !
Thank you Jay @ssgt! This is one of my favorite builds from that time.
Excellent model - I built one many years ago and gave it a full interior which wasn't really visible. Nice construction techniques, the bigger Matchbox kits suffer from some fit issues. The finish is very, very good as well.
Thank you Christopher @christopher! A couple of months ago I built their B-17G and the wings to the fuselage area have some big gaps to deal with. It was not a hard thing to deal with but it took some extra time to correct. The Stranraer from what I remember gave me very little fit issues, and went together quite nicely.
That just cool! Thanks for sharing.
Rod
Rod @rodbettencourt, thank you!
Lovely work, Bob, and a real walk down memory lane for me. I built this kit sometime in the late 70s/early 80s, with a camouflaged finish, I think. I agree that it was a great kit to build and like yourself, I don't recall any major issues. You've finished this one nicely, and your work highlights all the best aspects of this model, one of Matchbox's best; very well done... ;-).
Thank you Paul @paulh!
Excellent result on the Stranraer, Bob @v1pro
Great detailing and painting.
I saw the one in London back in 2023 and it is an impressive aircraft.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
Thank you John @johnb! Your photo shows the only Stranraer displayed in the world, that's a great photo of it.
Nicely done Bob, well resurrected !
Thank you very much Allan @kalamazoo!
Even though the modell is 40 years old, it looks terrific, Bob @v1pro. Very nice paintjob and great rigging. Airfix should do a new molding of this lovely plane.
Thank you Felix @fxrob, it would be neat to see if Airfix ever comes up with a new mold.
Awesome Bob,congratulations!
Thank you Marcus @mvtb!
A beautiful refurbishment, Bob! Love it.
Thank you Greg @gkittinger! It is nice to see this old build displayed again.
That's really nice - I always liked the Stranraer - looks kind of like a Walrus on steroids. I need to build one someday. Great job on this one!
Thank you Chas @chasbunch! I need to build the Walrus one day so they can both be displayed together.
Nice work, Bob.
Thank you John @j-healy!
Talk about an upgrade! Do you do car detailing Bob?
Amazing work on this classic kit.
Thank you George @georgeswork! Sorry no car detailing, just once in a while use enamel painted to touch up the minor dings.
Looks amazing! Great build of an old classic. Matchbox 1/72 used to be my Go-To kits.
Thank you Bob @bobd56az! I built this kit 39 years ago and it is still the only injected mold Stranraer kit in town and a decent one too!
Excellent Stranaer, Bob! Equally excellent restoration!
Thank you very much Spiros @fiveten!
