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Navy Bird
Bill Gilman (Navy Bird)
US

Gloster Javelin T.3 (Airfix)

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Let's see what we have for raw materials - the well known Heller T.3. 
 

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The Airfix FAW.9, a re-tooled version of the Heller T.3. 
 

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The ZTS Plastyk FAW.9... 
 

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...and the Frog/Novo FAW.9. Funny what you find in your stash if you look hard enough. 
 

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And some aftermarket stuff, including two sets of the Airwaves etch. 
 

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The ZTS Plastyk kit has engraved lines, but is a very basic kit which doesn't match drawings very well. 
 

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Plus, it's moulded in some weird grey plastic with swirls all through it. I like those A&AEE markings though. 
 

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The Heller T.3. 
 

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Which for some reason included the subsequent FAW.9 parts. To build a T.3, I'll have to get another kit for the proper tailcone. 
 

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Uh, the Frog/Novo kit has a wee bit of flash...and what looks like oil mixed with the styrene. Odd. 
 

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It seems like oil oozing out of the yellow areas.  
 

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The T.3 cockpit with some Pavla ejection seats and Airwaves etch. 
 

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The T.3 had a longer nose than the FAW.9, seen here comparing the ZTS Plastyk and Heller fuselages.  
 

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The intake areas match pretty good between the two kits. 
 

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The photoetch consoles are wider than the cockpit areas... 
 

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But they don't look too bad when drybrushed. I may replace with decals. 
 

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Photoetch rudder pedals. 
 

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Painted and dressed bang seats. 
 

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I'd like to pose the airbrakes open on the T.3, so out comes the knife. 
 

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These are the Airwaves PE bits, but the interior of the airbrake bay is too shallow. 
 

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Use the airbrake to mark some lines for position... 
 

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...like this... 
 

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...and add some bits of 1 x 3 mm styrene stock. 
 

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Not perfect, but much better. 
 

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Now I just have to make three more of these! 
 

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All the bays opened up. 
 

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And the new parts added. 
 

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The intakes added, along with some nose weight. 
 

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I found another T.3 kit on eBay, and here is the pen nib tailcone. Nice sink marks. 
 

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But I want the exhaust to be deeper, more like the real thing. 
 

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I made some artwork in Corel Draw and printed out the intake and exhaust faces, using the Airfix 1:48 kit as a guide. 
 

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You can hardly tell they're fake. 
 

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The shadows that I added to the artwork make the printouts look 3-D, even though they're flat. 
 

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Now for the fun part. Sanding off the raised detail and scribing all the panel lines. Ugh. 
 

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This will take forever. I hate scribing. 
 

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Scribing on the main part of the fuselage is done. 
 

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Of course, the occasional fubar was filled in. 
 

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I really messed up the wingtip, and had to get one from a spare kit. 
 

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The tailplanes need to be posed down a bit, plus I still need to cut out the elevators. 
 

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The first coat of Gunze Medium Sea Grey. Time to look for things that need to be fixed! 
 

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Some of my scribing is too deep; where's my Mr. Surfacer? 
 

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Adding brass tubing for the horizontal tail planes. 
 

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Separating the elevators from the tail planes. 
 

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Building the canopy arch from 0.005" thick styrene. 
 

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The canopy arch in place inside the canopy. 
 

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Getting ready to add the canopy. Ejection seats in place. 
 

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Gunze H75 Dark Sea Grey is applied. 
 

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Overall, I'm pleased with all the scribing. She looks much better without the raised panel lines. 
 

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Freehand application of Gunze H73 Dark Green. 
 

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A few spots to clean up on the camo edges. 
 

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I used Floquil Old Silver to replicate the High Speed Silver paint on the underside. 
 

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I've decided on XH436, No. 151 Squadron at RAF Leuchars for the markings. St Andrews cross will add a bit of colour. 
 

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Gunze H73 Dark Green and Gunze H75 Dark Sea Grey, applied freehand. 
 

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The blue in the Print Scale roundels is too light for my tastes. Off to the spares box. 
 

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Front strut actuator is photoetch on top of solid plastic painted black. Underside is Floquil Old Silver. 
 

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Stickers on! Only codes, fin flash, and St Andrews cross from the Print Scale sheet. 
 

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Some leftover photoetch is used as part of the airbrake actuators. 
 

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I think these PE parts were originally supposed to be straps for an ammo box. 
 

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Some photoetch gussets complete the effect. 
 

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The wing pitot is from Master - it bends just by looking at it. Very delicate. 
 

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Airbrakes all on. Note the greeblies on top of the fuselage. 
 

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The front fuselage periscopes are added, along with some antennae. I'd say she's done! 
 

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Canopy seals are white decal stripes. 
 

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Rod antenna behind the nose gear, whip antenna on top of the fin. 
 

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Overall varnish is Floquil "Flat Finish" which gives a nice egg-shell sheen. 
 

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I think the old gal cleaned up pretty good. 
 

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Now that I've finished the T.3, I need to do it all over again for the FAW.9! 
 

Comments

4 23 September 2019, 17:50
Bill Gilman
Next project. Boy, I'm a glutton for punishment.
23 September 2019, 18:29
Stephan Ryll
I'll take a seat Bill 🙂 ordered already some shares from putty manufacturers😉
23 September 2019, 19:20
Holger Kranich
As usual, i´ll take my seat in front row, right behind uncle Bill. I wont see your face when you suffer...😉😉
24 September 2019, 06:35
Bernd Korte
Very good! I'm a fan of these labour of love builds!
24 September 2019, 06:55
Bill Gilman
Welcome aboard, mates. Labour of love? Well, I love the aircraft and it's for sure going to be labour... 🙂
24 September 2019, 12:32
B. M.
I'll follow that! You're a courageous man 😉
26 September 2019, 17:37
Stephan Ryll
Up,to a nice start Bill 👍 that will be hard work I guess
26 September 2019, 17:44
Bill Gilman
I've finished the scribing, the fuselage is assembled, and the first coat of Medium Sea Grey is on. This has highlighted a few areas that still need some work, including some of my scribing that is too deep. I guess I got carried away at times. Mr. Surfacer should fix that - I don't want anyone thinking that the Mad Matchbox Trench Digger has been working on my Javelin!

I've separated the tailplanes from the vertical fin, as they were normally down a bit when the aircraft was on the ground. The elevators need to be removed so they can be posed as well. Come to think of it, the flaps on the underside of the wings should be down too, but it's too late for that! All told, the Heller/Airfix kit fits together quite well, and there was very little putty used. It's also a very good match to the T.3 drawings I have.

I put the landing gear on so she can set on her legs. The gear is quite spindly though - I applied a layer of thin superglue over the stress points hoping that will strengthen them a bit. I'm not worried about the gear collapsing due to the weight of the model, just me and my fumble thumbs knocking them off! Cheers, Bill
29 September 2019, 23:12
Bill Gilman
Hi mates! I'm getting closer to painting the T.3. It will have the typical Dark Sea Grey and Dark Green over High Speed Silver camouflage scheme. The markings will most likely be XH336, 226 OCU. Or maybe XH438, 72 Sqn. I decided to have the tailplanes slightly drooped, and the elevators drooped a it more. This seems to be the normal situation when the aircraft is on the ground. This required me to cut off the tailplanes, and then cut out the elevators. The elevator hinges got destroyed in the process, so I made new ones from card stock. I also had to scratchbuild the canopy arch, which is not included in the kit. It's fairly obvious looking through the canopy. I'm off to the UK on Friday and will be at SMW in Telford on November 9. Cheers, Bill
30 October 2019, 19:54
Christian Lehmann
👍
30 October 2019, 20:00
Andy Ball
Watching your labours-of-Hercules on this one! Great job!!
30 October 2019, 21:29
Cuajete
Fantastic job so far.
30 October 2019, 22:05
Erik Leijdens
Great work on this ancient kit 👍
30 October 2019, 22:27
Łukasz Gliński
I have to follow this! Even though it's gonna make me abandon bulding my kit from Chematic😉
31 October 2019, 11:59
Bill Gilman
Thanks mates! Sorry for the late reply, but I was travelling to the UK for SMW. Maybe some of you will attend as well?
8 November 2019, 11:20
Łukasz Gliński
Wish I could and as I see who's ateending I wish even more😉 Looks like much more important event than I thought 🙂
8 November 2019, 11:34
Andy Ball
I'll be at SMW on Sunday, hope to see some of you?, although it's a bit difficult as everyone uses Avatars!
8 November 2019, 19:40
Augie
Ooo going to be watching, going silver?
8 November 2019, 23:11
Holger Kranich
Same question here!🙂
9 November 2019, 08:16
Bill Gilman
Well, the underside will be silver!
10 November 2019, 13:22
Bill Gilman
Finally, some paint of the Javelin T.3! She now has the standard scheme of Dark Sea Grey/Dark Green over High Speed Silver. I have some detail painting still to do (like the tip of the nose and the intake lips) and then she can get a coat or two of clear gloss to get ready for the transfers. My wife and I visited Scotland on our trip to the UK (right before SMW), so I've decided to use the markings for XH436, No. 151 Squadron at RAF Leuchars in 1960. The tail will have a nice St Andrews Cross, so that will add a bit of colour. I've uploaded the latest photos so you can see the progress. Enjoy! Cheers, Bill
29 November 2019, 20:40
Stephan Ryll
Looking very good Bill 👍
30 November 2019, 14:44
Matthew A
Fantastic work
30 November 2019, 17:16
Cuajete
Very nice work.
Why Airfix will not release a new mold?
30 November 2019, 20:13
Bill Gilman
Hi mates. The Javelin T.3 is finished, and I've uploaded many more photos. I think the old gal cleaned up pretty good. What do you guys and gals think? Cheers, Bill
8 January 2020, 21:27
Matthew A
Lovely job looks like a new tool Airfix
8 January 2020, 21:32
Stefan Schacht
well done 👍
8 January 2020, 22:35
B. M.
That's a masters job. Airfix can have a look at it how it should be done now 😉
9 January 2020, 07:35
Oleg Bogolei
Very impressive!
9 January 2020, 08:05
Łukasz Gliński
Awesome finish! Looking forawrd to seeing your FAW.9
9 January 2020, 09:46
Neuling
Very clean work!
9 January 2020, 19:00
Bill Gilman
Thanks mates! The FAW.9 will follow shortly (I need to take a break from all that scribing!). My next project will be the CMR 1:72 Blackburn Firebrand TF.5. Cheers, Bill
9 January 2020, 19:37

Album info

1:72 Heller/Airfix kit - rescribed panel lines, opened up and raised the spoilers made from Airwaves photoetch.

80 images
1:72
In progress
1:72 Gloster Javelin Fighter (Aeroclub C031)1:72 Gloster Javelin Airbrakes (Airwaves AEC72133)1:72 Gloster Javelin FAW 9/9R (Airwaves AEC72135)7+

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