So many current kits boast near-perfect fit, and it is refreshing to see a build that carries the day through patient remedial work instead. This one takes the Airfix De Havilland DH.88 Comet, kit number A68229 in 1/72 scale, and turns it into a convincing Grosvenor House, registration G-ACSS. The box even supplies three paint pots, Humbrol 11, 19 and 33, alongside a Cartograf decal sheet.
Assembly started with the bright red fuselage halves coming off the sprues and getting their flash trimmed. Once the halves were cemented, heavy gaps showed up along the wing roots and engine nacelles, and Ammo Mig Putty Surfacer was pressed into service to close them. From there the whole airframe received a coat of white primer from Tamiya's Fine Surface line, followed by thinned bright red gloss Humbrol 19 acrylic through the airbrush.
Several details stand out. The molded pilot heads were brush-painted in Humbrol 33 matt black, then sanded back slightly where they fouled the clear canopy piece. Pre-cut yellow tape masks from UKScaleModeller dealt with the glazing, Micro Sol settled the decals down, and the propellers were sprayed silver from a 151 aerosol can. The finishing stack pairs a Kustom Service KSW60 Satin clear coat with VMS XXL Gloss varnish, and the little racer now sits on its clear two-piece display stand.
The trade-off is the amount of prep: extensive seam filling and flash cleanup were needed before this kit could look right. Anyone picking it up should budget time for that stage. Even so, the end result is a tidy tribute to the machine built for the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race.
Project by Model Minutes. Watch it on their YouTube channel: