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Airfix 2018


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10 hours ago, Wez said:

Steve, I'm Avionics/Electrical, I just thought I was quoting the standard heavy toolkit :whistle:

I thought crystal crackers tool kits were a deck of cards and a tea mug.

 

I best not say to much about electrical as I spent a lot of my Naval career slagging leckies off now my

day job is Electrical team leader for Komatsu Mining. Yes I have turned to the dark side.

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11 hours ago, NAVY870 said:

I thought crystal crackers tool kits were a deck of cards and a tea mug.

 

I best not say to much about electrical as I spent a lot of my Naval career slagging leckies off now my

day job is Electrical team leader for Komatsu Mining. Yes I have turned to the dark side.

 

Sooner or later we all end up crossing to our respective dark sides, I sign off our team's work so I know an awful lot more about metal spec's, heat treatment, rivet types and load paths than I should.

 

And I like hitting things with a hammer (who doesn't)?

11 hours ago, John said:

We're bound to see a 1/72 Defiant nightfighter boxing and possibly a series 1 Desert Air Force Tomahawk?

 

John

 

I think these are obvious choices for Airfix and I'd be very surprised if we don't see them.

 

What pleases me with the current Airfix is when they bring a mould back into circulation, they don't just trot it out with the same decals as previously (the current release of the 1/72nd Spitfire 19  being a good example).

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16 minutes ago, Wez said:

 

Sooner or later we all end up crossing to our respective dark sides, I sign off our team's work so I know an awful lot What pleases me with the current Airfix is when they bring a mould back into circulation, they don't just trot it out with the same decals as previously (the current release of the 1/72nd Spitfire 19  being a good example).

 

Oh yes they do!!!!  The current re-box of the 1/72th Mosquito still has the same three markings options as it did in 1973 when it was first issued.

 

This is a kit that desperately needs re-tooling.  Don't get me wrong; I think it's a good kit for its day, but the mouldy are worn and the level of detail is, by today's standards, basic.  A modern kit would almost certainly have weapons bay and undercarriage bay detail (full depth mainwheel wells would be nice for a start, without having to hack lumps out of nacelle tops and lower wing skins.

 

If Airfix want to do fighters and bombers/PRs the logical choice would be to put the fuselage halves and specific related components on one sprue so, for example:

 

cockpit floor,

instrument panel,

control column,

entry hatch,

radio equipment.

cockpit fittings (electrical junction boxes, radar displays for NF variants)

armament

 

Engine nacelles and exhausts could also be designed onto a separate sprue, giving the options of single-or two-stage engines, shrouded and unshrouded exhausts without disrupting the bulk of the common parts:

 

wings,

tailplanes (most variants)

undercarriage,

weapons bay,

cockpit fittings (seats, control linkages).

 

I know that there are differences in the wings: later aircraft had a spanwise "strap" above and below the spars (visible in photos of, e.g. TJ138 at Hendon, and some rocket-projectile-fitted FB. Mk. VIs had additional under wing reinforcement but most manufacturers haven't picked up on these to date and one much-vaunted-by-Hyperscalers manufacturer has even delineated the spar cap strip with engraved panel lines!  (sorry, I can't find an emoji for "bewildered" just now).

 

I haven't covered the trainers in this, but there were so few of them and who wants to model trainers anyway?  (Runs away bravely and dives bravelier for very deep cover.)

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Steve, there are always exceptions to the rule, perhaps I should change my post to read "seem to..."?

 

Agree about the Mosquito needing replacing, it has served Airfix and the modelling community well but it's had its day. I would love to see a twin stage Mossie, a night fighter for me but I know others (particularly the Wooksta!), who are desperate for a bomber. Your suggestion to how the mould should be broken down makes good engineering sense to me, whether that approach is economically viable is another question.

Edited by Wez
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1 minute ago, Wez said:

Steve, there are always exceptions to the rule, perhaps I should change my post to read "seem to..."?

 

Agree about the Mosquito needing replacing, it has served Airfix and the modelling community well but it's had its day. I would love to see a twin stage Mossie, a night fighter for me but I know others (particularly the Wooksta!), who are desperate for a bomber. Your suggestion to how the mould should be broken down makes good engineering sense to me, whether that approach is economically viable is another question.

 

Agreed Wez, and my apologies: I hadn't intended to jump on you.  The poor old Sunderland's in the same boat.  You're right also about the economics of the tooling; if it's not going to be cost-effective the bean-counters will kill it.  I know an earlier poster didn't like the idea of just doing the front fuselage as a separate part but the joint would be easier to manage on the Mosquito and careful design, following the line of the wing cutout on the real aeroplane as far as possible, with vertical cuts at the front spar position below the wing and at the dorsal spa wise reinforcing strap above it for example, would give a lot of contact area for cementing, unlike the Blenheim.

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Special Hobby have announced a twin stage Mossie, it would be interesting to see what approach they take with the fuselage?

 

The trouble is with SH is the very long flash to bang time between announcement and kit reaching the shop's

 

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5 hours ago, charlie_c67 said:

With the new discovery of the Mossie plans, next year might be a little soon for a new tool. Maybe the year after?

 

 

Not necessarily; Airfix have a number of Mosquitos (W4050, TA122, TA634, TJ138) within two hours' travel of their headquarters and HJ711 not much further away.  Their LIDAR scanners will give a good plot of the external form of the aircraft.  They should also have a comprehensive data library from producing the 1/24th scale FB. Mk. VI to work from; it will be a fair bit of work to decide what's worth scaling down but it should be do-able.

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10 hours ago, charlie_c67 said:

Maybe, but being designed completely from the original plans could viewed as a strong selling point?

Which plans are these?

 

Invariably, company GA (General Arrangement) plans are not accurate scale plans and thus not a basis for making a scale model from.  Likewise, production drawings are what you make the individual components to and how you fit them together.  The latter might be great for understanding some of the subtleties and fine details but again are not a suitable basis for a scale model.

There's also the matter of whether the drawings have been kept up to date and incorporate all of the drawing changes.

 

Airfix would be better served to measure the real thing, LIDAR where possible and then use the drawings for the subtleties.

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On 11-8-2017 at 10:35 PM, John said:

We're bound to see a 1/72 Defiant nightfighter boxing

 

Perhaps I don't understand you correctly, but doesn't the current / initial Defiant boxing A02069) has an 151st Squadron nightfighter decal option..? 

 

Cheers,

 

Andre 

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1 hour ago, Hook said:

 

Perhaps I don't understand you correctly, but doesn't the current / initial Defiant boxing A02069) has an 151st Squadron nightfighter decal option..? 

 

Cheers,

 

Andre 

Andre,

 

I don't know about that I'll check later), but one thing I do know, we Brit's don't use st, nd, rd or th in our squadron designations, to us it's just 151 Squadron.

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1 hour ago, Hook said:

 

Perhaps I don't understand you correctly, but doesn't the current / initial Defiant boxing A02069) has an 151st Squadron nightfighter decal option..? 

 

Cheers,

 

Andre 

Yes it does. DZ*Z N3328 and complete with shark mouth. Mine will be painted up in this scheme shortly.

 

Trevor

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On 8/12/2017 at 10:40 AM, stever219 said:

 

Oh yes they do!!!!  The current re-box of the 1/72th Mosquito still has the same three markings options as it did in 1973 when it was first issued.

 

This is a kit that desperately needs re-tooling.  Don't get me wrong; I think it's a good kit for its day, but the mouldy are worn and the level of detail is, by today's standards, basic.  A modern kit would almost certainly have weapons bay and undercarriage bay detail (full depth mainwheel wells would be nice for a start, without having to hack lumps out of nacelle tops and lower wing skins.

 

If Airfix want to do fighters and bombers/PRs the logical choice would be to put the fuselage halves and specific related components on one sprue so, for example:

 

cockpit floor,

instrument panel,

control column,

entry hatch,

radio equipment.

cockpit fittings (electrical junction boxes, radar displays for NF variants)

armament

 

Engine nacelles and exhausts could also be designed onto a separate sprue, giving the options of single-or two-stage engines, shrouded and unshrouded exhausts without disrupting the bulk of the common parts:

 

wings,

tailplanes (most variants)

undercarriage,

weapons bay,

cockpit fittings (seats, control linkages).

 

I know that there are differences in the wings: later aircraft had a spanwise "strap" above and below the spars (visible in photos of, e.g. TJ138 at Hendon, and some rocket-projectile-fitted FB. Mk. VIs had additional under wing reinforcement but most manufacturers haven't picked up on these to date and one much-vaunted-by-Hyperscalers manufacturer has even delineated the spar cap strip with engraved panel lines!  (sorry, I can't find an emoji for "bewildered" just now).

 

I haven't covered the trainers in this, but there were so few of them and who wants to model trainers anyway?  (Runs away bravely and dives bravelier for very deep cover.)

Definitely time for a two-stage Merlin version.  Like a tin wing Hurricane Mk1 I'm amazed no one has produced a kit.   As you point out, it wouldn't be difficult to produce a mould that can offer different engine options and, as they have done it with the Blenheim, different nose sections too (yeah, I know, problem fit).  As for the T.3, isn't that just the case of deleting the .303s?  (reaches for tin hat) 

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3 minutes ago, Meatbox8 said:

Definitely time for a two-stage Merlin version.  Like a tin wing Hurricane Mk1 I'm amazed no one has produced a kit.   As you point out, it wouldn't be difficult to produce a mould that can offer different engine options and, as they have done it with the Blenheim, different nose sections too (yeah, I know, problem fit).  As for the T.3, isn't that just the case of deleting the .303s?  (reaches for tin hat) 

 

Not a huge amount more really, providing a set of dual controls and a 2nd pilot's seat.

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2 hours ago, Max Headroom said:

Yes it does. DZ*Z N3328 and complete with shark mouth. Mine will be painted up in this scheme shortly.

 

Trevor

Wouldn't mind a black 264 squadron with the yellow/blue/red roundels or maybe a 141 or 410 (Canadian) aircraft with the blue and red roundels.  Shark mouths are strictly for Tomahawks and Kittyhawks in Chez Meatbox. 

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On 8/12/2017 at 11:33 AM, Wez said:

Special Hobby have announced a twin stage Mossie, it would be interesting to see what approach they take with the fuselage?

 

The trouble is with SH is the very long flash to bang time between announcement and kit reaching the shop's

 

It sure is.  I seem to remember them announcing a Canberra B.2 about a million years ago. 

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9 minutes ago, Max Headroom said:

......and Sabres?

 

Trevor

Of course. That goes without saying.  And the odd Vampire too.  Oh, and maybe a Hunter.  And a Mustang III.  And a Mustang IV - obviously.  But apart form that what did the Romans ever do for us?

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