Review Content

Have Airfix portrayed the colour scheme of CD-K correctly? When the film 'Battle of Britain' was made, the under surfaces of the Spitfires and Hurricanes used were painted a light blue colour, not Sky as depicted in the kit. The codes look to be the wrong colour as well. They should be white. Finally, are the national marking decals printed in the correct 'bright' shades of red and blue?

I have the old Ian Huntley drawings from the original Warpaint scanned somewhere which include a TA-4S sideview, but @Tailspin Turtle wasn't that taken about the general accuracy of the set of drawings. @Hook, whose drawings are included here?

Oh yeah of course that's probably it

AIrfix is to release a regular Mk IX later this year, so not unlikely that some of the sprues are the same across the kits. But as no sprues of the Mk IX has been released yet (atleast that I have seen) we'll have to wait and see.

I find the sprue layout a bit odd. It would seem that E could be combined with D to reduce the number of sprues. Is there scope for another variant based on this kit? I'd assume not....

Nice review Mike, not sure where you came up with, orange/green yin-yang meatball roundel . Its a ‘Celtic boss’ . Lots of Irish modellers on here including myself.......

Supermarine Spitfire TR.9 (A05143) Two-Seat Trainer 1:48 Airfix The Supermarine Spitfire was the mainstay of British Fighter Command for the majority of WWII, in conjunction with the Hurricane during the Battle of Britain, with the Mk.IX being the most popular (with many) throughout the war, seeing extended periods of production with only minor alterations for the role for which it was intended differentiating between the sub-variants. Originally requested to counter the superiority of the then-new Fw.190, a two-stage supercharged Merlin designated type 61 provided performance in spades, and the fitting of twin wing-mounted cannons with accommodating blisters gave it enough punch to take down its diminutive Butcher-Bird prey. The suffix following the mark number relates to the wings fitted to the aircraft, as they could vary. The C wing was also known as the Universal Wing, and saw extensive use because it mounted two 20mm cannon in each wing, the outer barrel usually covered by a rubber plug. The main gear was adjusted in an effort to give it more stable landing characteristics, and bowed gear bays removed the need for blisters on the upper wing surface, helping aerodynamics. The Mk.IX is considered by many to be the definitive variant of the Merlin-engined Spitfire, and over 5,600 of this type were made during WWII, the majority built at Castle Bromwich. Although there were two known two-seat two-seat Spitfire conversions during the war, one of a Mk.V by a British squadron, and one Mk.IX by the Soviets for training their pilots, it wasn’t until after the war that it became official, starting with one Mk.VIII that was built by Vickers as a demonstrator. Ten T.Mk.IX trainers were exported to India for their training needs, with a further six sold to the Irish Air Force for their training and conversion requirements in 1951, converted from redundant Mk.IXs. The Irish airframes were also able to be used for gunnery training thanks to the retention of two .303 machine guns in the outer wing stations, one in each side, that allowed novice pilots to engage in target practice with the security of knowing that they had a tutor in the back seat in case of issues. Of those six, four survived retirement and went into service in the warbird community, taking paying passengers on pleasure rides that are still ongoing at time of writing, despite a recent forced belly landing by one of the small fleet that was light enough for the pilot and passenger to walk away almost unscathed. Hopefully that airframe will be back in the skies once repaired and its engine has been rebuilt after the shock-load imparted by the prop when it impacted the ground. The Kit This is the first boxing of a new tooling from Airfix, one of the first to have the exterior fully riveted, which is bound to split opinion, as usual. Speaking personally, I like them, as they add extra visual interest in areas that might otherwise look bland, and although we all know that rivets aren’t generally holes in the skin, we also know that windscreens aren’t 6” thick, and that modelling is always a compromise in some shape or form. Now that’s out of the way, let’s get on with looking at the model. The kit arrives in a top-opening red-themed box, with a painting of an Irish TR.9 in green with their orange/green yin-yang meatball roundel on the wings and fuselage. Inside the box are four large sprues and a smaller one in dark grey styrene, a separately bagged clear sprue, decal sheet, and the instruction booklet that is printed in spot colour on white paper, with full colour profiles of the decal options on the rearmost pages. Detail is excellent, extending to the usual points of interest that include the cockpit, gear bays, plus other exterior features both raised and engraved. The inclusion of a fully riveted and panel lined exterior skin is a new feature for Airfix, and adds to the appeal for many modellers, as above, which coupled with Airfix’s clever engineering of their kits and excellent marketing and distribution network, makes for a better product for us modeller. Construction begins with the dual cockpit, and while the component parts will be very familiar to anyone that has built a Spitfire before, the unusual aspect is the provision of another seat and controls in the rear. Because the front cockpit has been moved forward to accommodate the extra seat, the bulkhead with the pilot’s instrument panel has a shallower profile than the norm, attaching the compass mount in the footwell hole, and adding this and the forward spar to the port sidewall insert. The forward floor has a pair of pegs removed from underneath, fitting rudder pedals, then sliding it into the cockpit from the front via the footwell cut-out, and securing the rear through the spar before adding a cross-bar to the seat frame and putting it into the slot that marks the rear of the first cockpit. A short bulkhead is set behind the front cockpit, making up another floor section with rudders, and sliding that carefully into place, taking care not to bend the narrow areas that project into the front cockpit and through the rear bulkhead. A narrow port side console is made from two parts plus a decal, fixing it to the cockpit side straddling both compartment, locating it on the recesses moulded into the wall. The front seat will be very familiar, consisting of the pan plus two sides, and an adjustment lever on the starboard side, attaching the support frame to the rear, then fixing it in the cockpit after the glue has cured. The starboard cockpit wall has three pegs removed from the rear, and a wiring loom fitted before it is joined to the growing assembly, adding another slim console with throttle quadrant and decal to the starboard side after the two walls are in position. The tutor’s control column is a two-part assembly, fitting a ledge to the starboard footwell before it is closed in with a shaped bulkhead, then sills are fixed to the top of the cockpit assembly, and another two-part control column for the trainee is added. The tutor’s seat is made in the same manner as the front seat, attaching it to another seat frame with rail glued across the top, sliding the completed assembly into the rear of the cockpit assembly, then fitting the front and rear instrument panels after painting and decaling them with dials and other details. The trainee’s sidewalls receive a throttle quadrant and landing gear control assembly, the former on the port side, the latter on the starboard. A support is fixed between the top of the tutor’s panel and the roll-over behind the trainee’s head, then you have the choice of whether to populate the cockpit with pilots or not. Two crew members are included on the smallest sprue, and the pilot in control has separate arms to allow for a more realistic pose than the old hands-on-lap chaps of yesteryear. Both pilots are inserted into the cockpit at this stage, adding the arms to the pilot once they are in position, but if you don’t feel the need, you can leave one or both in the box. Before the fuselage can be closed around the cockpit, you should make the decision whether to pose the canopies open or closed, as the sills need to be removed for the closed option. Fortunately, Airfix have included two jigs for the sides that allow you to cut the forward sills off without issue, providing you don’t forget yourself and glue the jigs in place in a moment of madness. To pose the canopies open, the access doors are cut out along the thinned edges, as shown on the instructions, with replacement parts provided on the sprue, noting that the aft door is much shallower than the pilot’s, and as it is post-WWII, you can paint the diagonal crowbar bright red without risking pillory from the purists. Another piece of equipment is added to the moulded-in ribbing in the top of the fuselage on the starboard side, a filler cap is inserted in front of the windscreen, and a platform is installed in the belly aft of the wings, ready to receive the two relocated oxygen bottles that usually stand upright behind the pilot seat. The completed cockpit can then be trapped between the two fuselage halves, which is where we can see a new engineering decision that will lead to a better joint on the cowling over the Merlin engine. Instead of moulding half the cowling into each fuselage half, it has been created as a separate part that is given the correct shape and form by using sliding moulds, which results in fine seamlines that need little clean-up, and shouldn’t reappear like many Spitfire cowling seams have in the past, which I’m sure many of us can attest. Each elevator panel is made from upper and lower skins, slotting into the tail on either side, adding a full-span flying surface across the concave trailing edge, and trapping it in position with an insert in the centre. This allows the modeller to deflect it as they wish, adding the rudder behind, which can also be deflected for a more candid look to the finished model. The lower wings are full-span out to the tip-joints, and have a pair of radiator housings inserted after fixing the cores front and rear inside them, and gluing the cooling flap to the rear, which can be set open or closed. Flipping the lower wing over, a pair of circular bay walls are added to the cut-outs, linking them with a pair of parts that perform the dual task of bay sides and also act as spars to keep the dihedral of the wings from sagging. A circular light is embedded in the lower wing toward the trailing edge, then it can be mated to the fuselage, gluing the upper wings over the top, and installing the ailerons in their cut-outs near the tips. You have the option for wheels-up or down with this kit, the easiest option being in-flight, requiring the installation of the fixed tail-wheel under the rudder, and a custom set of main bay doors that have spacers moulded-in, which prevent the parts from dropping into the bays, and give enough space for the simplified wheels to attach to the integrated axles. To model the TR.9 on the ground, a pair of struts are made with separate scissor-links and captive bay doors, both inserting into the bays and locating securely in position with the help of some sensible engineering. The wheels are moulded as tyres that have block tread (typical of post-war use) moulded-in along with the rear hub, adding the front hub before installing them on the stub axles at the lower end of the leg. While the model is inverted, an L-shaped pitot probe it glued under the port wing, and a pair of small hooks are installed between the radiator housings. Attention moves back to the fuselage, concentrating on the nose and cockpit to finish off. The six-stack fishtail exhausts are moulded on the same sprue as a set of tubular stacks, so ensure you fit the correct option before proceeding. Each set comprises two parts that hold three stacks each for extra detail, hiding the mating surfaces inside the cowling after they have been inserted into the slots in the sides of the nose. The four-bladed prop is moulded as a single part that is bracketed by the spinner and back-plate, which is placed against another plate that is skewered by a stepped pin that should allow the blades to spin if you are careful with the glue. The assembly is then glued into a cup that slides into an oversized hole in the front of the nose, again being careful with the glue to keep the blades moving. As mentioned earlier, the canopies can be posed open or closed, and by now the decision should have been made. To have the canopies open, the windscreen, aft section of the forward cockpit and the windscreen/spoiler for the aft cockpit are glued in place, fitting the two openers in the retracted position as shown on the diagrams, fixing the open doors in the down position on the port side of the fuselage that should have been cut out earlier. If closing the cockpit, a small section of the front cockpit sill should have been removed using the jigs supplied, allowing the combined opener and fixed aft section to be glued in place over the cut-out. The same aft opener is used for both options in this kit. Markings There are two decal options in this kit, one in service with the Irish Air Corps, the other in civil service as a warbird. From the box you can build one of the following: Spitfire TR.9, B Flight, Irish Air Corps/An tAerchór, Baldonnel Aerodrome, Dublin, Republic of Ireland/Poblacht na hÉireann, 1951 Spitfire TR.9, Iver, Buckinghamshire, England, 1969 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. For the Irish option, the widths of the orange/white/green stripes under the wings are shown for those that prefer to paint larger markings to avoid carrier-film steps, and separate Trestle-Here markings are thoughtfully included on the decal sheet. Conclusion While the TR.9 Spitfire played no part in the Battle of Britain or the rest of the war, it was an interesting bit-part player post war, and is a familiar sight in the skies around Britain and at airshows. It’s also about the only way any of us will ever get to fly in a Spitfire without using a time machine. Airfix have done a great job of tooling this kit using modern techniques, and the upgrade of detail levels really shows. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Lovely package indeed! I don't think any operational MiG-21 had a midair refuelling capacity, though.

I think we might have been separated at birth

Mike, if it makes you feel any better, in my mind, I am actually a hilarious amusing person full of witticisms and clever wit. Then when I say the absolutely drop dead funny phrase that is running through my head, it comes out as a highly inappropriate and totally unhumorous comment that is abhorrent to the normal population and leaves them shaking their head in disbelief that someone this old has this huge lack of sensitivity and common sense. But, for a couple of seconds it makes me smile.

Just me being daft George, the inference being that I’m so confused that I can’t even say the phrase correctly. Nowt to do with sneakers, or trainers as we say here in merry old Engerland, apples and pears, how’s yer father. You making me explain it has made it even less funny if that were possible 😭

For us foreigners that only speak Texan, what does 6s and 17s mean? I've heard of 6's and 7's for confusion, but the only reference I've ever heard about 6s and 17s is with the 6/17/23 Jordan sneaker release. I need some edumacation on English slang again.

I'm with you on both counts

Too late. I already used the PE part in my Airfix Lysander Mk.I and the plastic part in my Mk.II conversion. To be honest it's not a difficult part to knock up from plastic card, I'm just being lazy. I'm sure most people will never notice.

Like most of us, they're human. If you still have that set, you could always use the part as a template for a little scratch-building before you offload the older kit

It doesn't seem to be. Bit of a shame as Eduard definitely know about it. There was a correct seat included on the PE fret of their own (ex-Gavia) 1/48 Lysander.

I think that's outwith the scope of this quick upgrade set. Have a look at their PE cockpit set to see if it's in there. Not looked yet myself, but my head's been all at 6s and 17s of late

It's nice, but it's a shame they didn't take the opportunity to provide the original pattern rear cockpit seat on the PE fret. The seat in the kit is one from a preserved aircraft. The actual seat (at least in Mk.I and II aircraft) was simply a perforated metal rectangle.

Lysander Mk.I/Mk.III Löök (644305 for Airfix) 1:48 Eduard A lot of modellers got very excited when Airfix announced their new tooling of the Westland Lysander Mk.I/Mk.III, and they weren’t disappointed by the resulting kit, which we reviewed here. As you’re probably tired of reading, you can always improve on injection moulded styrene when it comes to detail, and Eduard are renowned for doing just that. This set contains a combination of pre-printed resin and PE parts to detail up your cockpit quickly and efficiently. There are two resin parts that make up the instrument panel in front of the pilot, the second part a compass on triangular support that slots into the bottom of the panel, with glossy faced dials and switch gear already painted for you at high resolution on black resin. Additionally, the PE set of four-point belts for the pilot that requires cutting of a lozenge-shaped hole in the back of the seat, and a pair of lap-belts are supplied for the rear gunner or passenger on his/her stool in the compartment behind the pilot. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

The F sprue is missing from your photos, along with most of the turret parts. (from Miniart site)

I saw someone suggesting that we microwave old rolls of tape for 20 seconds to reactivate the adhesive. I saw him do it with standard putty-coloured masking tape and it seemed to work, so maybe we could all encourage Enzo burn his house down?

I think Jammydog tape would be good for this. However, I've learned that the adhesive on Jammydog tape loses its stickyness with time so it's probably best to buy a new reel.

Lay down the lighter spinner color first, then get some flexible thin tape to mask off the stripes accompanied by some frustrating noises, slightly off color language and wish for more steady hands, followed up by some black paint, I really don't think there is an easier way.

P-39K/L Airacobra Weekend Edition (8463) 1:48 Eduard The P-39 was Bell’s response to a specification requested for a fighter from the USAAC, which was to be a high-altitude interceptor. With Bell’s usual left-field approach to aircraft design, the team produced the world’s first tricycle landing geared prop-driven aircraft, as well as the first aircraft to site the engine behind the pilot, while the airscrew remained at the front. The prop was driven by a long drive shaft that ran under the pilot’s floor, with a coaxial 37mm cannon firing through the centre of the spinner, in a quest for high penetration and accuracy. Ancillary armament varied depending on model, from nose mounted .50cals to four 7.62mm machine guns in the wings. The Airacobra had limited internal space for fuel thanks in part to its tapered nose, and the lack of a supercharger substantially limited its abilities at higher altitudes. Despite these drawbacks, and the likelihood of engine failure after hits from a rear attack, the Airacobra flew in most arenas of combat, but distinguished itself best on the Eastern Front in Soviet service, where almost 5,000 were flown with some notable aces racking up victories whilst flying them. The K model was fitted with an Aeroproducts prop and a more powerful engine that output over 1,300hp, and with a Curtiss Electric prop it was designated L, with a total of around 500 of the two subvariants made. One K airframe was taken from the production line and converted into the prototype of the later N series. The final variant was the Q, which ceased production in 1944 after a variety of sub-variants and one-offs were created. The Kit This is a reboxing of a tooling with origins in 2000, but to which additional parts have been added over the years. It is a Weekend boxing too, which as the name implies has just the styrene and some decal options for a simple build, rather than adding Photo-Etch (PE) and other such extras that might slow you down. The kit arrives in a blue-and-white themed top-opening box with a painting of a brace of Airacobras flying low over shipping, and the profiles for the decal options on the side of the lid. Inside the box are three sprues of bluish grey styrene, a clear sprue in a separate Ziploc bag, two decal sheets split between markings and stencils, and the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on gloss white paper, with the full profiles of the decal options on the back pages. Detail is good, especially for the era, and the decal choices offer a range of schemes. Construction begins with the cockpit, starting with the floor, to which a bulkhead with clear armour is fitted, adding a suspended radio shelf that is supported by another bulkhead at the rear, and a portion of the intake behind the cockpit at the very rear. Additional small parts are mounted in the forward cockpit, including the control column, extra levers, the pilot’s seat with decal four-point belts, and of course the instrument panel, which has rudder pedals fixed in the rear, and a dial decal applied to the engraved details on the front. Another bulkhead is mated to the front of the cockpit assembly, attaching the five-part nose gear bay to the front, tipping upward so that it fits snugly within the nose. The cockpit sidewalls are moulded into the fuselage halves, adding a throttle quadrant to the starboard side, plus stencil decals to add extra detail and realism. A cartoon bunny in the corner of that step reminds you to add nose weight to prevent a tail-sitter, but doesn’t give a value for the weight needed, so you will have to tape the main parts together to achieve balance. Once the fuselage halves are joined around the cockpit and nose weight, an insert with the nose guns is added to the nose, which will also give you one last chance to install nose weight. Once you have dealt with the seams in your preferred manner, the elevators are slotted into the sides of the tail, and the wings are built. The lower wing is full-span, and has the main gear bay walls moulded-in, adding the roof panels, and installing the radiators in the leading-edges of the wings, boxing them in with the intakes that follow the contours of the wings. A small piece of the leading edge of the wing should be cut away to accommodate the wing mounted guns, gluing the upper wings over the completed lower, then mating it with the fuselage. Flipping the model over, the radiator exhaust ducts have their cores installed, followed by the cooling gills, with a scrap diagram showing how they should be arranged. While the model is inverted, the main gear legs are fitted with separate scissor-links, captive door bays, and a choice of two styles of two-part wheels, one with a flat-spot to imply weight of the airframe on the tyre, the other without, whichever you prefer. Two decal options have the majority of the bay door removed, so bear this in mind before you apply glue, adding the inner bay doors and their retraction jacks on the central edges of the bays. The nose gear leg also has separate scissor-links and the same choice of two styles of wheels, adding a small door to the base of the leg, a long two-part retraction jack behind the strut, and a pair of long doors down the sides of the bay. Righting the model allows fitting of the exhaust stacks on either side of the cockpit, gluing the main canopy and windscreen as one part over the cockpit, and an optional radio mast behind it. The two clear “car door” style doors are painted on the inside and have stencil decals applied before they are fixed to the cockpit, with a choice of inserts on the nose that depends on which decal option you have chosen. The propeller is built from a back-plate with three grooves for the individual blades, of which there are two choices, trapped in place by the spinner with gun barrel in the centre, while a scrap diagram shows the 37° angle of the blades to the back-plate. It is glued in place on the axle moulded into the front of the fuselage, then the model is completed by sliding the two gun barrels into each wing, and a pitot probe near the tip of the port wing. Markings There are four decal options on the included sheets, with a choice of different schemes to appeal to a wider audience, each option having a full page dedicated to it, and the common stencils shown on a separate set of line drawings to avoid over-complicating the main profiles. From the box you can build one of the following: P-39L, 42-4558, 93rd FS, 81st FG, Sidi Ahmed, Tunisia, summer 1943 P-39K, 42-4275, 70th FS, 347th FG, Guadalcanal, spring 1943 P-39L, 42-4472, 346th FS, 350th FG, Tunisia, spring 1943 P-39K, 42-4358, Lt. William McDonough, 40th FS, 35th FG, Port Moresby, New Guinea, February 1943 The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion A welcome reboxing of this Eduard staple in 1:48, with four decal options adding value to the Weekend boxing. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

You want them to build it for you too?