SCM Groupbuild - Matchbox Nostalgia

 

 

 

I'll be building an Indian Navy machine. 

Very, very basic cockpit, so I'm using a Harrier seat from the Spares Box and scratched an instrument panel 

Johnny Pilot fills the empty space nicely 

 

Good fit of parts so far 

The Carpet Monster grabbed a snack, so I had to improvise... 

With a dark wash, these will be good enough! 

The kit intakes have too many doors and are all open. 

I'll be using left-overs from an Airfix kit. (I used Heritage Aviation resin intakes for that kit). 

Some modelling work ahead! 

The ordnance supplied with the kit was a rather poor pair of Sidewinder-ish missiles and a couple of bombs. I then found images of Indian Navy Sea Harriers armed with gunpods and BAe Sea Eagle anti-ship missiles.  

By the time I'd filled the gaps with plasticard and sanded it all smooth, I remember why I disliked the Airfix approach to the inlet doors; 

Things always look a bit better with some paint 

Matchbox kits came with a stand, that relied upon a tab fitting into a slot cut in the fuselage. Often, this slot was too loose, leaving the model to wobble precariously on it's stand, or needing the modeller to actually glue the model to the stand! 

(Sacrilige! How can you strafe your brothers tanks, if you've got a ruddy great piece a-dangling?) This is my solution, involving a thin piece of plasticard glued over the slot and a slit cut into this. 

Matchbox 1/72 BAe Sea Harrier FRS51, Indian Navy, 1982 

Matchbox 1/72 BAe Sea Harrier FRS51, Indian Navy, 1982 

Matchbox 1/72 BAe Sea Harrier FRS51, Indian Navy, 1982 

Matchbox 1/72 BAe Sea Harrier FRS51, Indian Navy, 1982 

Matchbox 1/72 BAe Sea Harrier FRS51, Indian Navy, 1982