Evening All,
Recently I had to go into the loft to get some things down and I stumbled across the following models which represent most of what I have kept over the years and many moves from my former incarnation as a modeller. They are important for me for what they represent - a turning point in my modelling experience - not for the quality of the builds or the sad state that some of them are now in.
For almost all of my teenage years I was frustrated because I wanted to make something different from what was supplied as a kit, and although I avidly read articles by A Hall and others in Airfix Magazine I rarely took up the challenge and was invariably disappointed with the result when I did, which further deterred my from trying again. One day I remembered reading about a conversion kit for the Me 262 night fighter - a two seat conversion from the single seat variant. A Hall had written an article on just this topic in Airfix Magazine a year or two before and had followed it with another article on simple conversions to other variants of the single seater in a subsequent issue. My problem was simple - I wanted to build the two seat night fighter but I could not mould a new canopy: the conversion kit (from Airmodel) provided the canopy, radar antennae and DF loop for the princely sum of 4 shillings and sixpence in real money (23 pence in todays' currency). Given that the Revell Me 262 kit cost about 3 shillings (15 pence) at the time the conversion kit was not cheap......but it offered a potential way forward for me. I had to provide my own markings but I could just about do that so with much trepidation I went ahead. The result, rather the worse for wear after 50+ years was this:
I do have most of the missing parts but they refused to stay in place when I tried to repair the model for photos...... I now know that the colour scheme is wrong - but in those days we simply did not have access to the information which is available today. Imagine my joy when I finished this my first ever successful conversion. From now on I was freed from the tyranny of the kit manufacturer - because I could make something different - even if I had to rely on another manufacturer to do so. I quickly took the opportunity to try something else:
This is an Me 262b-2a which was the two seater with an extended fuselage to accommodate extra fuel tanks. The model has lost an undercarriage leg - hence the paint pot support, and the colour scheme is entirely fictitious because I did not know what the original looked like. I used the Airmodel conversion kit and balsa wood inserts in the fuselage: my brother kindly made the radar aerials from wire soldered together. I was on a roll and more of A. Hall's conversions followed:
The above represents the Me 262A- 1a/U3 with cameras mounted in the nose. The nose bulges are probably too large but were very simple - filler over pieces of scrap plastic! Another was a little more adventurous:
The Me 262 A 1a V-O83 armed with a 50 mm cannon in the nose. Again the colours are wrong and the number on the side is too large and too far back - but as I did not have a photo at the time I was not too bothered - I had a conversion!
Another easy A. Hall conversion, (once I had overcome my hesitation to risk ruining a good kit), was the Heinkel He - 22 V1 launcher, this time using the Airfix He 20 and Frog V1 from the Spitfire XIV/V1 kit:
I was also learning how to achieve better paint finishes as on this Monogram Messerschmitt Bf 110C in JG1 Hornisse markings:
I was trying to use an airbrush at the time but failed to get to grips with such complex technology so I stuck with good old hairy sticks instead.
I learned some very important lessons by making the above models:
1. Keep things simple - stupid. Then as now I only used basic tools and equipment - most problems can be overcome with a little thought and what is lying around on the table. All problems have solutions - I just have to find them.
2. Expensive tools can take a long time to master - and therefore rarely if ever get used properly by me. Better to spend the money on something that I will make good use of.
3. I can because I think that I can. I have no training in craft skills or painting, but I know others who do and I have a tongue in my mouth. All I have to do is overcome my fear of failure and give something a try. I do not always succeed, but I do not give up easily either.
4. My mistakes shout very loudly at me and I can constantly hear and see them: other people seem to be deaf....and blind. (Or they are very sensitive to my feelings).
5. I have the freedom to do my own thing and be what I have always been in life - the odd one out. That is where I am happiest.
6. If I had not taken that first step over 50 years ago and cut off the top of the rear fuselage of the Revell Me 262 kit I would not be making models today - I had to start with something and that was a simple and easy way to start.
If you have got this far, thanks for looking.
Stephen.
