McDonnell Voodoo (1952)
- photo by Andy Blackwell, from the back of a 'Tailored' kit box
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The Voodoo was
Wilmot Mansour's first venture into the production of 'Tailored' kits.
It was evidently successful enough to encourage the design of other models.
Although it does not appear to lasted long in the Wilmot Mansour range, Sebel later
revived and sold it.
The illustration is excerpted from a Jetex advertisement in the Aeromodeller Annual of 1953.
- Length: 13½
- Wingspan: 14½
- Weight: ??.
- Price: (1952) 7/9
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Hawker Hunter (1953)
- from a Wilmot Mansour advertisement, Aeromodeller, March 1955 |
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The Hunter
was one of the "Large Scale Series", designed, by Bert Judge, for a Jetmaster with augmenter tube.
- Length: 25"
- Wingspan: 20"
- Weight: 4 oz.
- Price (1955) 21/-
We have
a full-size copy of the plan
available for download.
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Supermarine Swift (1954)
- from a Wilmot Mansour advertisement, Aeromodeller, March 1955
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Like the Hunter, the Swift belonged to the "Large Scale Series", designed for a Jetmaster with augmenter tube.
- Length: 24"
- Wingspan: 20"
- Weight: 4½ oz.
- Price (1955) 21/-
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Douglas Skyray (1954)
- from a Wilmot Mansour advertisement, Aeromodeller, March 1955
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The Skyray
was one of the "Mach 1 + Series", designed for a Jetex 50B with augmenter tube.
- Length: 12"
- Wingspan: 9¼"
- Weight: 1¼ oz.
- Price (1955) 10/6d.
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Douglas Skyrocket (1954)
- David Ranford
Note: A kit in good condition sold on eBay in 2006 for £121.00 ($211.00) |
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Like the
Skyray, the Skyrocket belonged to the "Mach 1 + Series", designed for a Jetex 50B
with augmenter tube.
- Length: 11¾"
- Wingspan: 7½"
- Weight: 1½ oz.
- Price (1955) 10/6d.
- from a Wilmot Mansour advertisement, Aeromodeller, March 1955
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North American YF-100 Super Sabre (1954)
- from a Wilmot Mansour advertisement, Aeromodeller, March 1955
Note the different
model illustrations on the two kit box-tops! Since one photograph comes from the US (above)
and the other from the UK (right), could it be differing marketing on the two sides of the
Atlantic?
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The Super Sabre, too, was one of the "Mach 1 + Series", but, being slightly smaller and lighter (though no cheaper) than its siblings, could be flown with either an Atom 35 or a Jetex 50B, each with augmenter tube.
- Length: 10"
- Wingspan: 7½"
- Weight: 1 oz.
- Price (1955) 10/6d.
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Folland Gnat (1955)
- kit purchased by Steve Bage on eBay, 2007
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Also joining the Mach 1 + Series in 1955, was this Folland fighter. Though designated as
the Gnat, its shape was closer to the Gnat's prototype predecessor, the Midge.
"This was one of the better flying models of the series," says Carlo Godel.
Like its fellow models in the Mach 1 + Series, it was also priced at 10/9.
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English Electric P.1 (1955)
- photo by John McKnight
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1955 also saw the introduction to the Mach 1 + Series of the English Electric P.1,
predecessor to the Lightning. 10/9 would also buy this kit in 1955 and this price was maintained
at least until 1961.
The illustration at left shows the P.1 kit box with the two moulded skin halves.
A kit in good condition sold on eBay in 2006 for £101.00 ($176.00)
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Hawker Hunter (1956)
- from a Sebel advertisement, Royal Air Force Flying Review 1956 |
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After Jetex production had passed from Wilmot Mansour to Sebel Products Limited
('J' Division), a smaller Hunter was added to the Mach 1 + Series, powered by a
Jetex 50B with augmenter tube
It was advertised as the "latest of the world's easiest and most beautiful kits".
- Length: ??
- Wingspan: ??
- Weight: ??
- Price (1956) 10/9d.
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Fairey Delta 2 (1957)
- from a Sebel advertisement, Royal Air Force Flying Review 1958
A kit in good condition sold on eBay in 2006 for £127.00 ($222.00)
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The Fairey Delta 2 was also a later, but very popular, addition to the "Mach 1 + Series", powered by a Jetex 50B with augmenter tube, and designed by Mike Ingram.
It was advertised as the "world's finest model of the 1132 m.p.h. world record-holding aircraft".
- Length: 15"
- Wingspan: 8¾"
- Weight: 1¼ oz.
- Price (1957) 10/9d.
We have a full-size
copy of the plan available for download.
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Lockheed F-104 Starfighter (1958)
- from a Sebel advertisement, Royal Air Force Flying Review 1958
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Advertised in
1958 as "the most up-to-the-minute kit, in the finest Jetex tradition", the F-104 Starfighter
was another later addition to the series.
Available for download we have a copy of the plan and an enlargement of the building instructions.
- Length: 14¾"
- Wingspan: 7¼"
- Weight: 1 oz.
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Chance-Vought
F8U-1 Crusader (1958)
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Sebel also turned
to the USAF for what was to be was the last scale model jet fighter produced in the 'Tailored' kit range,
the F8U-1 Crusader.
- Length: 12¼"
- Wingspan: 8½"
- Weight: 1¼ oz.
- Price (1958): 10/9d.
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A Tailored
oddity:
Jetnik (1958)
- from a Sebel advertisement,
Royal Air Force Flying Review October, 1958
Model Aircraft welcomed Jetnik with a
brief
review and illustration in its issue of July 1958.
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The 'Jetnik'
was advertised as "a Jetex 'Tailored' kit, complete with accurately die-cut parts
[and] 2 pre-formed Balsa body shells", so it is obvious that it utilised the same
method of construction as the other 'Tailored' kits. Like the Starfighter, it was
one of the last 'Tailored' kits to be advertised, in 1958.
But the Jetnik (named in imitation of Sputnik?) is an oddity amongst the other 'Tailored'
kits in that it's (presumably!) not a scale model of an actual aircraft. The advertisement
calls it a "Rocket Powered Orbital [yes, orbital!] Satellite" and describes its
operation:
[The Jetnik is] a real
Jetex-powered working model of a 2-stage rocket-launched satellite. Initial
take-off thrust is provided by an elastic powered-catapult; the main first-stage body
falls away automatically leaving the Jetex-powered satellite nose section to
rocket vertically to an altitude of up to 300 ft.
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- Length: 11½"
- Width over fins: 5"
- Weight: 1 oz.
- Price (1958) 7/11d.
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