SPA Modeler

BlackSheep214 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 14, 2026 8:07 am She's certainly a fatty bird.

Indeed, the barrel name is well deserved.

speedgraflex wrote: ↑Fri Aug 14, 2026 8:06 am Haha, thanks for your thoughts, Stuart! I didn’t build any Matchbox kits growing up as these were expensive imports—and back in the days of yore the hobby shop I used to visit kept them locked up with their Corgis. My earliest impression of Matchbox kits will always be somewhat distorted by seeing them through a sheet of plexiglass.

Moving to the present, I’m still debating how much I’ll keep of the exterior details. Do I dare fill in those heavy trench lines or do I dare keep them? After all, this will be a brush painted build; I intend to get very creative with grey washes over light grey enamels. The only polished surface I see on the original craft is the leading edge of the wing itself. All the rest has an almost powdery natural patina.

LOL! It's amazing how viewpoints differ - Matchbox was the only kits my local hardware sold, at pocket money prices, so I grew up building them. On the flip side I never even SAW a Monogram kit until I was an adult!

This is just my personal view when it comes to old models, but with everything pretty much having been re-tooled by modern manufacturing these days, when it comes to old kits I just build them as the designer intended, with maybe the odd scratch-built bit thrown in. So being me, I'd leave the panels as they were but that's just me - they were always less noticeable under paint anyway. Saying that, I've seen many an MB kit that's had the panels filled in and rescribed and they looked great. I suppose it depends on how much work you want to put into it.

I think your idea of the grey washes and light grey enamels would work. Are you able to use a rattle can where you live? I personally would base it with a spray, and then mask and pick out individual panels with brush paints/washes - that's what I did with my P-51 last year.

It's probably no help, as it's a photo I took of a restored aircraft that looks like it's been painted, but here's the one in the museum I used to visit.



Oh and just for a Crack - this is the last Matchbox kit I built. built and painted within less than 24 hours as part of a build challenge earlier in the year. Man look at those panels LOL!

A wonderful pair of photos. Congratulations on building your kit out of the box! The idea of leaving the panel lines untouched has its merits.

Right now I’m leaning towards eliminating as few of the trenches on the fuselage halves as possible, which means largely in the area closest to the nose and knocking down the raised detailing of the top wing. This would make a favorable first impression and give me a flat surface to detail.

That’s a good idea about a rattle can primer. Thanks, Stuart.

First fill / Milliput slurry

Bruce, like you said Matchbox kits in New England where I grew up were a little more expensive then the Monogram Revell kits. I remember getting a Monogram Black Widow for $5.99 from Toys R Us. In the summer of 1983 my family and I went to England to visit my grandparents. We were there for a month. I had a pocketful of money from my paper route. Every penny was spent on Matchbox, Heller and Airfix with a few Revell Germany mixed in. Needless to say my dad had to buy another suitcase to bring my goodies home.

speedgraflex wrote: ↑Fri Aug 14, 2026 10:00 am A wonderful pair of photos. Congratulations on building your kit out of the box! The idea of leaving the panel lines untouched has its merits.

Right now I’m leaning towards eliminating as few of the trenches on the fuselage halves as possible, which means largely in the area closest to the nose and knocking down the raised detailing of the top wing. This would make a favorable first impression and give me a flat surface to detail.

That’s a good idea about a rattle can primer. Thanks, Stuart.

First fill / Milliput slurry

That looks Good Bruce! What you're planning sounds a good approach.

tempestjohnny wrote: ↑Sat Aug 15, 2026 4:19 am I had a pocketful of money from my paper route. Every penny was spent on Matchbox, Heller and Airfix with a few Revell Germany mixed in. Needless to say my dad had to buy another suitcase to bring my goodies home.

speedgraflex wrote: ↑Sat Aug 15, 2026 10:53 am Happy Memories, TJ. What a wonderful story. Did any kits survive the years or are they memories now?

Stuart, After an hour I’ve glued the halves of the fuselage temporarily with PVA so my second round of fills can address the symmetrical shape better. I can already tell there’s a slight mismatch in the area between each wing root and the cockpit. I’ll need to dry fit wing assemblies to see if that affects alignment. At a guess it’s most likely that the mold bucks are just slightly different. No big deal, really.

I definitely need a set of plans to continue so I’m off to the internet’s dark corners to see what’s around.

Cheers

Sounds like a good plan Bruce!

I built a Hobbyboss 1/48 J29 years ago as it happens - it's a great looking little jet. Alas neither the build or my photo's of it survive.

This is a fantastic project Bruce! I built one of these a few years back and had a blast so thanks for the memories! I even included some pics of mine so you have some additional idea of how this goes together when done. Mine was brush painted as well.







I even used the original decals which were a major fight to get to lay down properly...

Saab J29F Tunnan (Flying Barrel)

Sweden’s Aerobatic Team
Higling Group F9
Säve Air Base

The "Flying Barrel" Teams: Throughout the early to mid-1950s, Swedish air wings put together 4-aircraft formation aerobatic teams flying the J29. These groups were typically named after their respective squadron leaders (such as the Fogde-Group or Haglind-Group).

Chair pulled...drinks and snacks ready