And oldie, but not so goodie. First finish of the year.

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
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I got this one early last year from part of collection sale. It is the OLD Life-Like Hobbies 1/48th Fairey Flycatcher. This one was later re-released by a few others. Its a crude kit by any standards, with VERY hard to work with dry-rub transfers for the markings. The kit is molded in what almost looks like a fiberglass texture [simulates fabric]. there was extreme amounts of flash, and not the best instructions. The paint was a test. I wanted a matt aluminum. So I mixed SNJ buffing aluminum powder with future until it looked like mercury. Then sprayed. It sprayed great, and the finish is fairly durable. the rigging is invisible thread. Anyway, here she is. And oldie, but not so goodie Fairey Flycatcher.

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Great work, thanks for sharing.

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Life-Like?!? I knew they did model railroad rolling stock (had some as a kid) but had no idea they did regular kits like that! Who knew…

Wow, she is a pristine build, Rob! Very well done! The rigging there must’ve been maddening, but looks like it came together flawlessly! Also the wood grain prop and the NMF look spot on to my eye! She is definately a jewel![8D]

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Nice job man. Looks like a Goodie to me.

Chris

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I really Like it [tup] [tup] It is nice to see these oldies being built and showed. You have done an excellent job making this model look real.

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Rob, if you wouldn’t have mentioned the drawbacks of the kit I’d have thought it was shake n bake from how you’ve comepleted it. Now you have a sensational model on your shelf of a plane not often built. Great stuff on this one! Well worth your effort.

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Thanks guys. Yeah, the rigging was a PTA, but it ws worth it. The directions were hand drawn pictures with letters and text to tell you how to rig it. Originally, u used ONE giant piece and ran it from one spot, upt through the wings, over the wing, back down, etc. Then cut the top pieces off when the glue dried. The prop did come out good. I am VERY pleased with it. As did the NMF. I’ll be using it on my B-17G in the future. The part I’m not pleased with is the dry rub decals. They cracked a lot on the yellow band, and bubbled a lot on other spots [I can press it back down and a day later its bubbled again.] I also have the Bristol Bulldog from them, hopefully it will be an easier build.

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Ahh, Rob, you have to love the Flycatcher, it’s one of those old airplanes whose lines are so “sleek” that in photos you are never quite sure whether it is post or pre-crash. I am amazed the decals worked at all. Yours looks very nice. I am pretty sure I have all of the Life Like kits, but in Inpact and Pyro Boxings. They are the Flycatcher, Bristol Bulldog, Hawker Fury, Gladiator, and the Swordfish.

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I really like this build, and could tell you had any difficulty at all building it. I am not familiar with this aircraft, so seeing one I have never seen before is also a treat. Great idea on the NMF technique, I am gonna try that one. Thanks for sharing your work- she’s really a looker. Thanks also for the tips! [^]

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Rob you should be proud of that build. You took a very difficult build and turned into something special.

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I am not saying I know this feeling builing so many Hasemaya and Tamigawa kits, but the nese of accomplishement when you take and old clunker kit and turn it in to THAT must be wondereful. Looks great. You set your own bar high for the rest of the year. And yet one more use for the magic concoction was call Future.

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Way to make silk from a sow’s ear. Nicely done. Very beautiful aircraft.

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Excellent work Rob. A real stunner [tup].

Regards, Rick

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Rob, that looks great.

Thanks for sharing.

Karl

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Fantastic job on a superb piece of history. NMF, the prop, the rigging all came out wonderfully. Thx for sharing.

…Guy

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Really good job on that old kit. I know what those life Like kits are like. I had an old Boxkite among a few others. They can be quite a challenge.

What’s next and who will be the next one to do one?

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and this was a dificult kit to build??? fot the results I can´t tell!

your model lokks realy great! I like the paint job very much and your rigging is flawless, congratulations!!

Great subjet too, it´s nice see this weird bird in the forum.

best regards

Jeremias

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Thanks guys. As most know, I have a huge soft spot / addiction to classic kits. [Proof can be found in the Classic Kit GB]. I like to challenge of building a plane without the use of slide molded parts, PE, resin, white metal, and all the good things that we like now a days. Although, to save my sanity, I cant do too many at a time. right now, I’ve gone back to my Academy P-36A for the USAAC GB, my 21st Cen. BF-109, and I just started an old 1/72 Hasegawa Aichi E13a Jake. I’m stalling cause I dont wanna start the “big kits”. I have the 1/48th B-17G with all the resin and PE you can get, and the 1/48th S-3b viking, with the Goffy resin cockpit.