Hi Folks.

I have had a look back and realised that it has been just over 18 months since I actually did any modelling. In that time I have moved house, taken a higher management role at work, and then 2 days ago my wife and I had a beautiful baby girl (Evie). All of these things when taken individually can put a handbrake on your hobby time, but taken in combination things just ground to a complete halt !

Things have settled somewhat now, and while Karen and Evie are still in hospital resting, and I have 3 weeks break from work, I thought I might just take stock of my various ambitions here and decide on one project to focus on to "get my mojo back."

So here it is. Over the past few years I have been hunting down a range of 1/48 Boomerang kits with a view to putting together a comparative build log. I don't intend to build them all at the same time, and haven't set myself any time frame, it is just something that has been bubbling away in my brain-box for a while.

Below are the kits that I have at hand so far. I know that there have been several other limited-run kits released over the years, but they have eluded my search to date. If I come across them I will add them along the way.







I will start with the two Special Hobby kits.
I would also encourage anybody who is building a Boomerang kit to add their progress shots and comments to this thread, the more the merrier !

Anyway, that's it for the moment. I will post some detail shots of the kit parts soon. I'm really looking forward to getting back in action, I've missed the hands-on time hugely.

Cheers, D (proud new dad !!)

I will get the ball rolling with some detail shots of the NKR Resin kit. I picked this one up off eBay for $8 a couple of years back, it came in a large ziplock outer bag with 2 small sealed inner bags containing the smaller parts. No decals or instructions. I believe that it would have originally been supplied in a cardboard box, as first image here shows a label on a cut-out cardboard backing.


There is a double sided A4 sheet with tech data on the aircraft and a set of 1/72 scale drawings for reference.



Here is a shot of all of the parts supplied-


A closer view of the small parts-


The fuselage halves (very thin as you can see)-


The main wing upper halves and tail-


And finally the lower main wing supplied as one piece-


The dihedral on the main wing lower half is interesting, but I understand that a soak I some hot water will allow me to gently straighten this out-


I will get some closer shots when the light is better, there is some fine detail on some of the parts.

I have never built a full resin kit, but I have worked with a few resin detail sets, so I should be able to fumble my way through this one when the time comes !

Cheers, D

Damion,

Congratulations to your and your wife on the birth of your daughter Evie.

Nothing like getting your Mojo back. It took me almost 30 years, so you're way ahead of my curve.

Sure looks like you're more then serious at a run of completing all the available (?) 1/48 scale Boomerang kits.

And yes, you can bend resin to some degree after a soaking in almost boiling water. That's something I didn't know was possible till it was posted in a build thread on Aeroscale.

I'll be following your adventures throughout your builds.

Joel

Wow, you're a lot younger whippersnapper than I thought. I have grandchildren older than tan! Congratulations!

I've got an old Airfix / MPC? flavor of the Boomerang that's my first choice for Ronnie RAAF. However the decals are toasted, so I may have to get creative on the markings.

Nice Project Damien, I have always liked the "tough guy" look of this aircraft. Congrats on the new addition to family too,

Hi Damian

Congratulations!

Great build project too. I've got the Kiwi Wings kit stashed away somewhere with a bit of pre-prep done to it, but I've never really got stuck in.

All the best

Rowan

Thanks for the kind comments guys, much appreciated.

Mark, I'm young at heart and that's all that counts. My eldest is a daughter who is 22 so there is a fair spread of ages with 3 boys and now 3 girls ! If they all get interested in this hobby my meagre stash will be decimated.

I have been digging through a few boxes to try to find the LTD and Kiwi Wings kits to do their parts pics, but they are eluding me. Hopefully I will track them down over the coming weekend.

Cheers, D

eBay can help you

Looking forward to this, I love the Boomer. I have the LTD kit from when Squadron had it on sale for $5 and I have the Montex kit. There's just something about the look of the Boomerang that makes it feel like an old friend.

Well D, I hope I can trust your guidance on decals more than your advice on automobiles. I went ahead and ordered that sheet, should have it in time for the campaign...

Well after doing some digging I found the other Boomerang kits, so here we go with the LTD Models offering . . . .

Box Top (end opening box)


Box Bottom


Instruction Leaflet in page order







Decal Sheet


Canopy (Vac-formed) and Exhaust (resin)


Fuselage Sprue


Wing Sprue


Small Parts Sprue


As you can see there is a little bit of flash to contend with, but in general the parts look to be very well formed with fine recessed details. I have never worked with vac-formed canopy parts before, so I will be reading some tutorials before I take the plunge here.

The instructions and colour call-outs are well laid out and clear, and the few built-up examples that I have seen of this kit came up very nicely with a bit of care taken. Obviously no weekend speed build for me here !

Back soon with more Boomerangerie.

Cheers, D

Damian,
Now it's a duel build. It's getting more and more interesting.
Joel

Hi Joel.

Interesting it shall be !

Next kit up for inspection is the old Kiwi Wings (Tasman Models) offering . . . .

Sturdy top-opening box


Instructions leaflet A4 size, this should be fun, no diagrams, just written instructions and photographs of the real deal !




Lower wings and small parts




Fuselage, Upper Wings, Tail, Engine & Cowl, plus a handy hint sheet !



Those flow lines from the sprue gates are awesome, my Dremel will earn its keep on this one for sure !

Canopy (Vac-form), plus further handy hint insert


White metal smalls, plus yet another handy hint (just in case the first two don't sink in!)


Another first for me here, white metal parts. Looking forward to working with them as well.

Lastly, and most interesting, the decals


I researched the VH-USB "Lady Southern Cross" markings, thinking that they might have printed one decal sheet to insert into 2 different kits, and found out that a Boomerang (A46-30) was indeed painted up with these markings for use in a documentary about Charles Kingsford-Smith, simply called "Smithy". The original Lady Southern Cross was a Lockheed Altair as pictured below


You can see the history of Boomerang CA-12 A46-30 in the ADF Boomerang Serials Site
HERE, it is currently on display at Point Cook RAAF Museum here in Melbourne.



I am seriously considering doing this one up as VH-USB to make an interesting counterpoint to the acres of Foliage Green, and certainly a conversation starter !

Anyway, as with the LTD Models kit, I will need to work through this one at a leisurely pace to get the most out of it. I'm sure that a glass or two of our finest local Shiraz will assist greatly in this Mojo reclaiming venture!

As always, any and all comments or advice most welcome.

Onwards and Upwards !

Cheers, D

As often happens, curiosity at this late hour (midnight here now) got the better of me and I went Googlerising !






Hmmmmm. . . . . interesting !

Certainly the markings to go for Imho, challenging build though Will certainly need some work.

Who made the Ozzie Shiraz? Lots of very interesting wines coming from down under,(that includes New Zealand ).

Most wineries down here have a Shiraz, my favorites are Penfolds and Stanton and Killeen

Thanks for looking in Julian !

Cheers, D

I'll see if I can find any here in Holland. The Pinot Noir's from down under are very good. I'll stick with an Austrian Gruner Veltliner for today though, nice and cool on a warm day

Wow those are some ugly looking resin pour channels. I'd be cowering in a closet.


The LTD Boomerang instructions always make me laugh. I've built nothing but MDC, Trumpeter, Tamiya, Hasegawa and the 24th scale Mosquito lately and then I look at those and remember what modelling was when I was a kid.


Also - can we boycott end opening boxes?

Time for the next instalment folks, sprue shots for the Special Hobby CAC 13, kit #SH48117

Box, sturdy top opening (as preferred by Matt from Ontario!)


Sprue A, fuselage and stabilisers


Sprue B, wings and bits


Sprue C, Prop, framing and more bits


Sprue D, assorted small (and tiny) bits


Sprue E, glass


Resin, plus Sprue C escapee belly tank


Decals, PE and clear film


In general the parts look very nice, no distortion or warping, very little flash, finely engraved panel lines. My only concern is with a few of the sprue attachment points which seem large or awkwardly positioned. Nothing that can't be overcome with some fine pointed sprue cutters and a set of small rats tail files though.

The instructions are in folded A4 booklet form, with an introduction/history page, a parts and paint (Gunze Sangyo) list page, 8 pages (24 steps) of assembly which is clear and well laid out, one page of stencil placement, and 4 pages for paint and markings for 4 aircraft.

At this point I am very pleased with the kit, we shall see if that opinion persists when knife and cement meet styrene and resin !

On a much more serious note, here is my latest 1:1 project Evie, who is now 5 weeks old


Time for Daddy Bear to go and remove some weathering from her undercarriage

Cheers, D

Good shots Damian, looks like a nicely produced model.
Evie seems to be taking a dim view of proceedings
Good luck with the weathering Glad my boys have grown up and left home to start their own lives, I can remember cleaning "weathering" about 26 years ago

Looking forward to more (builds that is). I've got an old Airfix Boomerang for the Ronnie RAAF, if I could just get to it.

There's a 'weathering' project I've been working on too:


Grandson #4, just shy of 5 months. He's a preme, so he's now about the size of a 2 month old.

I've been on the road for work this past week and managed to take a basic tool set and a couple of kits with me to occupy the evenings.

I made a start on the Special Hobby CAC-13, a few interior sub-assemblies, and attached the instrument panels to the fuselage side walls.





I found a couple of short-shot parts, shown in pics below, but these will be tucked away out of sight once the fuselage is buttoned up so I'm not overly concerned.






It's good to be back in action after a couple of years away!

Cheers, D

A couple of challenges added free of charge Damian
All can be solved but will take a little bit of extra work

Damian,
For the prices we pay, I would at least hope that short shots would be a thing of the past, but I guess not.

The fuselage tubing looks like a pretty easy fix.
Joel

Great, large scope project . Everyone needs one.

All of those kits look really fun and interesting. this thread should be interesting for a long, long time!