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So recently i got hold of one of my favourite world war 2 aircraft. The bristol blenheim was an aircraft which was both a bomber and a fighter but lacked improving technology along with other aircraft. By the 1940s it was considered the blenheim to be too outdated and was too slow against enemy fighters. Pilots and crew were awarded medals just for flying in the aircraft. So onto the kit and to begin with there is a very nice box art. And also a choice of day or night fighter included. And also some very well produced details, which is common in airfix new tooled models. As expected the parts are very well made... To begin with the undercarriage bulkheads where fitted into place and the main frames were fitted into place also. A small bit of detail will be required but already a good start. Next the main fuselage was joined together. Work then began on the cockpit sections. Including pilots seat bombardiers position and interior components. With a basecoat of green down weathering will be done with a wash and details picked out. To finish off the evening i fitted all the parts together with a dry fit to see how well the fitments are. Details and wash will be done next before fitting everything into place. And i am also looking for referances if for addimg details and other parts. Thanks for looking.

Hello everybody. I've been thinking about building this beauty for a while now and after looking for some info and possible builds to follow I have come to the conclusion that either I've stumbled upon a lesser known kit that people just don't know about (prolly not) or that it's a kit that's been started, become a pain right up the Harris (understatement) and relegated to the draw of doooom. The few I have seen together and finished are wonders to behold I'm fascinated by its enormity and sheer balls out crazyness. It has curtains!!!! For better of for worse I'm going to run at this with everything I've got. it's going to be OOB pretty much with some scratch work here and there. I hope you'll join me on this adventure of plastic and string. It's going to be fun!!!! I'm starting this thread to attach to my P38-RFI Currently it's sitting waiting for move one. Here is the obligatory box shot. isn't she brilliant! I've bought a couple of the windsock ref books and I'm planning on building the "last days" one. Here we are as of now. The mouldings don't look too bad and I think all the parts at there. Now the RFI has been done on my P-38 I'm looking forward to getting my teeth sunk into this. Updates soon. Take care and as always happy modelling guys. Johnny Stringbag.

Its been a while since I posted anything on BM, life has really not been too kind lately, I had heart surgery last year and just as I was getting better I fell and broke my left arm. Since then I have moved house so posting anything has been a challenge. Now a kind member gave me some bits n bobs last year to help me make a Sea King from 771 Squadron based in my home county of Cornwall. I cannot thank that person enough but I've lost the PM's somewhere so, you know who you are and hopefully you'll be happy to see them being put to use. I have the Altmark decals and a Revell radome for a Navy Sea king. Just as another thing, I used to see these grey and red cabs all the time as a kid and my brother went on to serve with 771 Sqn as a diver for a number of years. I'm using the new tool Airfix kit of the RAF HAR3 as the base kit along with the Eduard PE set designed for the HC4 kit. As usual anything that is not right will be put right to make a decent Navy cab. This one will go on a small dio and will be displayed in flight, hence the altered rear wheel and the blades being cut off from the hub. A very long way to go yet, loads of scratch building and refining to do. So this is how far I have pushed the build. More photos later, but it looks like I need to find another photo host as PB is asking for a wad of green stuff from me to continue using them Regards Dan

Hi I succumbed to the recent Airfix 17 Pounder for a fiver offer. I scratch built one of these in 1/72 in the 1970s and have a soft spot for it. The latest issue box: The crew is I believe the Airfix multipose Airfix infantry set: the gun is on three sprues: It's not a great moulding - loads of sink marks, distortion and flash. I spent this afternoon making up sub assemblies. The parts needed a fair bit of preparation before assembly, and I see a fair bit of filling and sanding in my future too. It's quite frustrating - all the rectangular parts are slightly trapezoidal to aid mould release. The multipose figures are well modelled, and someone at Airfix took some trouble to suggest how to assemble them to look more like a gun crew. They will need more work to look convincing. But it's a 200+ part kit fof a subject I like for a fiver! Thanks for looking, Adrian

It's been a while since I've done a WIP, as I've been busy with non-Spitfire builds, but, having recently purchased DK Decals Spitfire V aces sheet and some KP kits from MJW Models, it's time to do one. This is the decal sheet: I'll be doing the Bader Va, using an Airfix kit, and five (or six) Vbs before progressing to MkIXs, MkVIIIs, MkXVIs, Mk22s and a Mk24 (there may even be a MkVI, MkXI, MkXII and Mk21). My problem is that I can't decide which ones to do so I've decided to ask you good people to suggest some (what could go wrong with a referendum?). Please let me know which ones you like and I'll do the most popular.

Hey Guys, So speeding along now! Built my first aircraft about 2 weeks ago (though uploaded much later here) and now here i am again having finished Airfix's lovely little Typhoon bubbletop. Construction was on par with Tamiya - that being you just shake the box and the bits fall together. The only real issue I had was fitting the fuselage halves together but considering I'm new to this game I'm sure its my inexperience rather than the kit! I painted her with Hannant's brilliant Extracolour range enamels which with a beautiful gloss finish prepared the surface nicely for the decalling stage. Weathering was simple, I thinned raw umber oil paint and ran it into the panel lines before wiping away. I coupled this with some basic metal chipping with Humbrol Metalcote Aluminium. Compared to my last (and first) aircraft build which was the Spitfire, I think I've come on a few steps and I'm quite pleased with the finish! Thanks for looking! Sam

Hi folk's love 'em or hate 'em Airfix's little Spitfires are a quick and painles build and even though we've done them to death I could'nt resist another one when I saw another boxing on the shelf,it's the Mk1/V issue and I liked the mid-war scheme.An OOB quick build no great weathering except a bit of graphite gun streak's exhaust etc I finally learned not to make the deep lines worse with a wash! Thank's for popping in. Oh and 10/10 for those decals Airfix, even used the fuselage band one went on a treat.

Well with the BMP-2 nearing Completion I had planned on building a Chivenor F.8 Meteor but Mr Kev "Longshanks" has lead me astray back to Coastal Defence craft. This is Nowhere near as ambitious as his Dog Boat and began a while back on a place a long way away. So it's off he shelf of shame and here's a quick resumé. The inspiration is from "Coastal Craft British Power Boat Company Vol 2" by Mark Smith. If you have any interest in wartime British Coastal craft you HAVE to get these (currently) 3 volumes that are all full of inspirational potential builds. MGB40 was a BPB 63 ft "Whaleback" boat originally built as an MTB for the Norwegian Navy and then requisitioned by the RN in 1940. It began life as an anti-sub boat then was converted to MGB. Original pictures are few - this is MGB 44 later sold to the Polish Navy with an identical configuration The kit will very obviously be the venerable Airfix Air Sea Resuce launch I've always felt there is a half decent kit trying to get out of this mid-70s offering. Coastal Craft come to the rescue with the twin Vickers MG tub, fittings and appropriate Decals.

After throughly enjoying the first Made in Britain GB, I'm back for the sequel. I have the Gloster Gladiator mk1 starter set to build, just waiting on eduard etch to arrive. The starter set is purely to help me as the new man cave is not ready to use, in fact everything is still packed from the house move. Having trouble finding my modelling supplies. I have a kitchen pass for Saturday, free use of the table all day, so hope to make some good progress. Photos to follow soon.

This is my first build on the site, so it's in at the deep end with the Airfix Vulcan. I'm about 18 months into my rekindled hobby (after a break of about 20 years). I have recently invested in an airbrush and this will be my third airbrushed model. I am also going to re scribe the kit (only the second kit I've attempted this on). Other than that it's going to be pretty much standard kit. I've got a VIP tour of the real aircraft booked for mid April, so intend to take lots of photo's to assist with the build. This is going to be my big build for the year, taking my time, dipping in and out of it, so please don't expect rapid progress. I've made a start by washing all the parts and taking the wings and fuselage off the sprue's. As I'm re scribing, I though this would be more easily done as the first job. There's lots to do on the wings and it seems easier lying them flat on the desk. As a point of interest, this is my workspace. And this is the work I've done so far with the scribing, and removing some flash from around the edges. I've started on the wing on the right. I know there's been some epic Vulcan builds on here, I'm just hoping that mine doesn't let the standard drop too far.

The Spadgent has started a build thread on this venerable but in my opinion, very good, kit. I built this some years ago after I had returned to the hobby after a 30+ year break - it was the third kit that I tried. I had built one of these when it was first released but did not have the skill or patience to do it justice then. I bought this second hand in the late 1970's so it was in dark green plastic and had no flash - just all of the ejector marks! I threw away the glazing and replaced it with clear acetate sheet and had to mould the upper wing centre section top (mine was missing and Airfix only re-released the kit after I had completed it). I hand painted the cockades, fin flashes and letter on the nose. The serial is from transfers as are the lift here markings. I also built the kit in a completely different sequence to the instructions because I knew that the wing joints are very tricky and care and dry runs are needed if that particular operation is to be successful. This represents a machine from an RNAS unit in early 1918 and was used for day bombing. It is worth remembering that at the time this kit was released it was one of the best quality kits on the market, which shows just how far our hobby has come in the intervening years. There are three other photos on The Spadgent's build thread page. The model is rigged with clear monofilament thread - it nearly drove me bonkers as it was almost impossible to see!. It required drilling lots of holes, (the holes provided by Airfix in the wings are a bit of a joke), and there were some other issues which I had to deal with. There is a build thread for this on Airfix Tribute Forum and an article on Modelling Madness if anyone is interested. I added the ladders and other bits just to give it a bit more interest. I know that the tail dolly is a work of fiction on Airfix's part but I could not find suitable photos/drawings at the time to scratch a proper one. In all an interesting build and one that I had long wanted to complete. It was also one of the last kits that I built as I found two completely forgotten, incomplete conversions in my roof when I was building this and looking for something else.... and so I completed them and continued with other conversions which I had also long wanted to make, and now I scratch build. P

Hi guys, So if you don't know, despite my name 'The_Lancaster' and my profile being the tail sash from a 306th BG B-17, I don't build aircraft! Armour is my thing as it were as its 9 times out of ten a simple case of building, painting, weathering, getting the tracks on (very basically). Aircraft to me have always been too fiddly to build a bit, paint it, glue it in, repeat. I just like to get the whole thing together then let lose with the airbrush later. However, I just so happened to have a airfix starter set spitfire come across my desk and i thought, what the hell, I'll give one a go (amongst piles of uncompleted and disaster areas of half-built aircraft). And then I finished it! I know right! My first aircraft since I was five! (Sixth Former right now). For the build I dispensed with the pleasantries (I kept the brush but the paints were for the bin) and used a mix of Tamiya Acrylics and Humbrol Enamels. The decals were applied over Klear and then sealed under another coat. Weathering was a simple process of following the panel lines with thinned raw umber oil paint and then wiped away with a dry or dampened brush of thinners in the direction of airflow. I then tackled the exhausts by airbrushing white then black just after the exhausts to create the effects of lead deposits. Though the decal sheet literally was the roundels, codes and tail sashes (missing all stencilling etc.) I'm quite happy still with the appearance of my first aircraft! Thanks for looking! Sam

I thought that this would be an ideal subject for this Group Build. Produced by British Executive and General Aviation Limited (BEAGLE) the Basset 206 had it's first flight at Shoreham in August 1961. After a fly-off between the Basset 206 and DH Devon as a replacement aircraft for the Anson, an order was placed by the RAF for 20 B206R's (Basset CC1) and this will be the subject for this build. I will be a little while starting because I have a couple of builds going on in other GB's to complete first, but hopefully there will be enough time left to squeeze in a second build that will allow me to make something outside of my comfort zone again.

In another post, someone asked about what our first models were – mine, via an assist, was an Airfix Do217 (‘red stripe’ box in those days) but it prompted me to dig out an old photograph that I remembered my Dad taking. A bit of a deception of course because the writing on the back says ‘1969, over the River Tay’! The picture was taken at the family home in Dundee with the River Tay just at the bottom of the road. The models were suspended on threads from the window frame. Hats off to Dad because he must have spent a bit of time in getting the angles right – looks like a beam attack from port in progress. (Wasn’t that the year that the film ‘The Battle of Britain’ was released?). I can remember him saying ‘Achtung, Spitfeur’ but he was of that ‘war generation’, after all! However, since I am getting going on modelling again and need a theme to really push me along, I thought I would re-do an Airfix Dornier Do217E-2 and a Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX both in flight and try to re-create the scene in the black and white photo. I do have both of these kits in the stash so firstly re-lived the ecstasy of opening the red stripe Do217 box – look at that sky blue plastic! In the spirit of these things, I put together as much of the kit as I could, just pausing to paint in the engines in black and the crew areas in what I imagined to be a reasonable ‘cockpit green’. The general fit of everything is not too good and I remembered that some time ago, I saw the previous excellent builds ‘A brace of Airfix old timer Dornier 217's ‘ by Mottlemaster, September 11, 2013 in The Obsolete Kit Group Build (photobucket images now not visible) and this really made the penny drop as to the limitations of this kit – totally ignored in 1969. The ailerons had to be trimmed to be moveable and had sink marks – I’ll leave this as ‘battle damage’. The dorsal turret was a very tight fit in its mountings so much sanding and filing was required before I could rotate it easily without bending the protruding machine gun. So, when it came to putting the flight deck together, I raised it in the fuselage by adding in a couple of layers of corrugated cardboard – this Do217 had the thickest armour plating in the whole Luftwaffe! I positioned the seats slightly differently to bring the control column and instrument panel within reach of the pilot and to allow the seats to come up into the canopy space. Unfortunately, the pilot ended up sitting slightly ‘side-saddle’ as I wasn’t keen on taking a file to the insides of his legs, poor guy. Now that the crew is going to be visible, I gave them brown overalls and black boots (with a shine), varying the brown on helmets and life preservers. The detail of the crew is basic but I had a go at putting some silver on their large round goggles – hoping it will all look OK behind the canopies. Cut out the instrument panel fascia from the Instructions and fixed with PVA glue. Getting the propellers in place was a bit of a nightmare because I was determined that they were going to be able to rotate when subjected to a breeze when finished – they would not press together satisfactorily and the final fit was wobbly. The engine cowlings would not assemble to the nacelles without a great deal of sanding/filing down and all of the exhaust/flame dampers required a large dot of plastic removed from the top surface as well as flash removed. Some filing back of one side of the engine nacelles was also required to get a decent fit. The main undercarriage all went together and remained ‘retractable’ but the port wheel has an off-centre axle hole on one side and will need to be filled and re-drilled later. There are no bracing struts on this undercarriage so leaving them moveable will be dodgy unless I come up with a method of bracing. The undercarriage doors seemed to fit well once a little flash was removed so the idea sprung into my mind that I would try to have them ‘hinged’ in some manner so that the undercarriage could be stowed and the doors shut for ‘flight mode’. Grey duct tape was available and I was able to cut thin strips with my wallpaper scissors. The tailwheel doors will have to go flat against the formed well to be flush with the rear fuselage but I initially found this to be impossible because of the thickness (albeit slight) of the duct tape ‘hinges’. A bit of filing in the hinge positions with a small square file has sorted this out. The tailwheel is not a tight fit in the rear fuselage so when the rear wheel doors are open, I’ll need to keep the tailwheel in place with a blob of blue-tac – just re-created a ‘castoring’ tailwheel. After a couple of attempts at the main undercarriage doors and a little removal of flash, I managed to insert small strips of the duct tape and press in place in the hinge tab positions. It is a bit fiddly to close the doors and set them in place flush with the undersides of the engine nacelles but it can be done – I don’t plan on demonstrating this often! I think a blob of blue tac can be used as something to close against when the doors are shut and something to ‘lock’ the main undercarriage legs in the vertical when they are open. Dry fit of wings on fuselage - looks reasonable but a bit more sanding required. On with the painting…..

A 1/48 scale Eduard's rendition of the Airfix E.E. Lightning. Both Airfix and the Eduard kit 1134 can also be made as a F.3. Since the Eduard kit has greyish PE for the cockpit you better build a F.3. Also the lack of good panels for any Aden gun tipped the scale towards a F.3. Together with Cutting Edge decals 48076, Dmold intake ring, Q-M-T wheels and a Master-in-Miniature pitot tube resulted in this. Some different Alclad2 and Mr. Color paints, which were a closer matched red with the decals than the Mr.Paint version. If you build this kit, beware of the cable ducts being in the wrong position. They should be some 1,5 cm more aft than instructed. I got it wrong and discovered it too late.

I have a few things on the go at the moment but in a moment of madness I lifted this out of the stash. And thought I'm sure I can knock this together before the end of the build and finish everything else off as welll. And build something for the Radial engine GB too. In between being busy at work and the rugby season starting you can see I've plenty of time. But let's get stuck in. The moulds are at least 40 years old as I remember buying enough of these on my honeymoon 40 years ago. It's useful to have these reminders to fix dates. It's classic Airfix with reasonable moulding and detail, albeit a bit chunky. There are options for the gun to be in either the towed or action mode and there are some moveable parts which although compromise the crispness of detail are not too bad. There is a little flash but nothing that can't be dealt with, with a few swipes of a sanding stick. I'll build it OOB and use the kit transfers. I may add a windscreen from clear plastic card or packaging but that's about it. Obligatory sprue shot, comes with gun crew and one 7th Armoured Division in 1940 North Africa option

The new Airfix models 1/48 Hawker Sea Hurricane Mk.IB Model Kit is in stock and available to order now.

Well, I didn't notice this one coming but I'm in. With all the firsts in the world to choose from, I'm surprised how aviation this bg looks and wanted to broaden it out. I'm going with https://www.scalemates.com/products/product.php?id=109407&p=timeline which is The world's first steam locomotive, can't show you it yet as I've only just ordered it! Have to say not my first choice which was going to be the first locomotive to break the 100 mph barrier, City of Truro but Nimrod54 did this so brilliantly that I wouldn't come close, if you missed it here's his build Hunting around I came across the Airfix kit for Trevithick and a cheaper Minicraft version but that is a strange 1:38 scale while the Airfix is the more conventional 1:32, which is gauge 1 for railway modellers, so it might get a crew to attend to it. But all that to come, first I need the Postie.

Got a couple of the new mould Airfix 1/48 Hurricane's in The Works sale recently and decided to do something "unusual" with one of them. I decided to finish them "au naturel" as if they hadn't been painted, to show the materials used. The main metal areas are Alclad Duraluminum, fabric areas are Vlaajo white with a couple of drops of brown in it to represent undoped linen. Wheelbays and landing gear are Vallejo Aluminium. I hope I've got all this right, I'm sure someone will be along to correct me if not

Hi all, My latest finish, the lovely wee Skyhawk in 1/72 from Airfix using decals (more about that later) from their much older Skyhawk kit in the Falklands War multi-kit gift boxing. This is 100% OOB (so some aerials will be missing) and the only extra was masking tape belts in the cockpit. If you're interested, the full WIP is here. Using the old Airfix decals seemed like a great idea but the carrier film was thick enough to land a plane on hence the really bad bumps/silvering on the final finish. Oh well, you live and learn. I handpainted the tail colours as the decals wouldn't stick with a gallon of setting solution and a brick on top. I kept the final finish grubby, to try to lessen the decals but also because I imagined these had a rough life in the South Atlantic in 1982... Kit: Airfix A03029 - a little gem and loved building it. Scale: 1/72 Build: Out of box Paint: White from a Halfords rattle can, all others Revell Acrylics with a brush. Klear, Flory Models Wash, W&N Flat Coat. Decals: A-4Q Skyhawk S/n 3-A-304 from No. 3 Attack Squadron, Argentine Navy. Operated from Bahia Blanca, 1982 and survived the conflict. Extras: Masking tape seat belts. Thanks for looking and comments/criticisms accepted! Dermo And with an Italeri Sea Harrier from the same time...

Way back in October of last year I entered the Mustang Single Type Group Building with two Airfix F-51Ds in 1/72. Both aircraft were to be RNZAF/TAF Mustangs from the 1950s. One based from my home city (Auckland) the second from the home of my father's family (Wellington). I managed to finish the first aircraft during the group build, the Auckland based aircraft. I've been plodding along with my Wellington based aircraft ever since and am happy to share it with you all here today. Natural metal is Alclad Airframe Aluminimum over Humbrol gloss black. The level of shine is captured by the underside photo. The wings were filled in, sanded, and painted with decanted Tamiya AS-12. Decals from Ventura. Canopy is Squadron/Falcon and was intended for the Hasegawa kit, which meant it needed a bit of surgery to fit. Very happy with the result.

Being a newbie on Britmodeller (love it) re-visiting his youth, I’m just really getting going again on enjoying building model kits. With my Dad passing on, 10 years ago now, at some point we were going through 'his side' of the wardrobe and I found a couple of Airfix kits – one started and one untouched. There was a Westland Lysander, kit no. 02053 (2nd Tool) in the ‘11E’ packaging and a Spitfire Mk IX, kit no. 02081 in the ‘15C’ packaging - looking at the info on the Airfix Tribute Forum (love it), this dates the purchases as 1994 to 2005+. The Lysander had been started with the engine and propeller assembled and painted (paints, brushes, sanding stick in the box) – the propeller shaft ran very sweetly in the engine boss and rotated even with gentle movement through the air – I think there had been a bit of work done to achieve this. The wings were painted ‘on sprue’ and the pilot was also beautifully painted in RAF blue with yellow Mae West and brown flying helmet. I used to build Airfix kits when I was a boy (in the 60’s) and when I held a finished item up for inspection, (in the early days it could be unpainted with ‘transfers’ applied or latterly painted in approximate colours), my Dad would always say – ‘That’s a beezer, son!’ Just what a budding 10-year old modeller liked to hear! (What is a beezer? Being a Dundonian, I only know of the kids’ comic of the same name from DC Thomsons). Well, when I saw this started model, with a beautifully working propeller and a pilot champing at the bit, I just had to finish it, albeit spare time being zero. Over what must have been a couple of years at least, I put the Lysander together, continuing the night/spy mission version as started by Dad. I found that the camo upper surfaces and black undersurfaces already painted needed another coat and thought I would carry on and have a go at painting the canopy framing free-hand – looked OK until I started taking photographs so lesson learned there. I was however happy with how the wheels/tyres turned out and the neatness of boundaries of the different paint colours in general. The exhaust ring turned out a bit more bronze coloured than I expected. The decals were quite brittle and one of the tail flashes subsequently peeled off and disappeared – I replaced with a similar item from a Lancaster decal sheet – trimmed. I finished off with a coat of matt cote to hold it all in place. (First time I’ve done that). Just to go the extra mile, I added an aerial in black thread after looking at a recent ‘Aeroplane’ publication on Lysanders. Also, I found the time to work on the ‘JE-J’ Spitfire IX and have just finished that, after putting too much cement on the spinner which produced a sink mark, many touch ups of the .303 gun port covers and an attempt to remove the decal silvering with a ‘Future’ equivalent – great experience though and good support through tips from others on 'Britmodellers'. Did a photo session with some props bought for my son, now discarded in favour of the ever present i-phone, and created a gentle airstream with a hairdryer that sent the Lysander propeller into action - Lysander just landed and ready to pick up that ‘agent’. So, these are for you, Dad – I hope they are both beezers!

Calling this one finished, found the kit very nice to put together with very little trimming and filler. I used the Brengun PE set, Master metal gun barrels, resin wheels, exhaust and wheels. The kit decals were used with Aviology stencil set to add extra detail but most are so small they disappeared on the dark green upper surfaces. Painted with Tamiya acrylics, used oil paint washes for the first time and chipped with silver pencil. The only issue I had was one of the under carriage legs had a slight inward twist when fitted. Had a similair problem on the Airfix Mustang I did earlier this year, may use metal replacements in future. IMGA0983 by neil Connor, on Flickr IMGA0984 by neil Connor, on Flickr IMGA0985 by neil Connor, on Flickr IMGA0986 by neil Connor, on Flickr IMGA0987 by neil Connor, on Flickr IMGA0988 by neil Connor, on Flickr IMGA0989 by neil Connor, on Flickr IMGA0990 by neil Connor, on Flickr IMGA0991 by neil Connor, on Flickr IMGA0992 by neil Connor, on Flickr IMGA0993 by neil Connor, on Flickr You can see the size of the stencils by the "coolant" on the front cowl, all were readable with a magnifying glass!, I will use the Aviology stencil again if available for the subject in hand.

And we're off......Well, now that I have managed to complete the Vampire for the De Havilland GB - I can crack on with the Bf109. Below is the kit that I am building: I'm just going for OOB on this one and so far the kit has proved to be excellent and is going together without any hassles. I've made a start by beginning with cockpit and managed to get that completed today - pics as follows: The kit is going together like a dream - in fact I don't think I've ever had two fuselage halves go together better than with this model - the tolerances make for a perfect fit. I'm currently busy bringing all the fuselage, wings etc together so I'll look to update with more photos once I've made some more progress. Kris

I have reached the stage with Ark Royal where there is a lot of sitting around waiting for layers of paint to dry fully, so it's high time (as Fritag and others have reminded me...) that I return to the world of flying machines. So here we are: Airfoil 1/48 Vixen, with Ally Cat resin conversion to FAW1, Quickboost small intakes, Heritage seamless big intake, Eduard PE and a donation from Madmusky, a fellow Britmodeller, of 4 Firestreaks which he didn't need for a Lightning build. Those of you who are familiar with this kit will see that I have already taken the plunge and cut the top half of the original cockpit off, ready for its resin replacement. (Original visible far top left, and the replacement on the right of the lamp.) This to be built as an aircraft that my next door neighbour flew as a Sub Lieutenant first tourist on 890NAS in the early 60s, and to be given to him for his 75th birthday later this year. Besides, I think the Mark 1 Vixen was a superb-looking aircraft, even if the Red Tops and extra fuel made the Mark 2 a more potent machine in real life; it just looks so much better without the sticky-out bits on top of the wing. I haven't quite decided how to pose it yet, but the current favourite is just catching an arrester wire, with everything dangling / hanging out. This will be the first time I have painted a figure in around 40 years, and that's the bit that is currently giving me the most worry! Welcome aboard; stand clear of intakes, jet pipes and exhausts - start the Vixen.