Adam Poultney

Just come into stock on Hannants

Can't belive the pace you build these at, how many 109s have you done now? This one's the same scheme I did my first eduard 109 in a few months ago

Agreed. I'd like a G-10 dual box like the previous ones. Oh well, the plastic is the most important bit!

I concur with @Lord Riot, the Victor is a tanker. Dates aside, the various lumps and bumps give it away. You can see the fuel bits under the fuselage, a few aerials that only appeared on the K2 and the lack of the small wing root intake on the port side. If you want a serial for the Victor it'll be a case of matching the camouflage pattern. The Vulcans there's not much to go off to pick out serials. The near one has what almost looks like a 617 sqn insignia on the tail, mostly obscured by the Victor nose. The only other significant clue I can discern at a glance is the RWR being fitted to the near one but not the far one, which would be about right for 1977-78 as they just started to spread to must of the fleet around then. But this isn't that much use as i don't have a source for the dates this was fitted to most individual Vulcans, only a few of them and then what can be deduced from photos taken on known dates. There aren't many more useful clues such as engine type, hardpoints, etc, visible due to the quality and angle of the photos. Again, definitive identification will be down to matching camouflage patterns.

Hannants say expected late August, and it's the 24th. Hopefully they'll have it any day!

Unfortunately just not a good time for me so I'm going to have to sit this one out

I'm not surprised, and Airfix are right to use top quality Cartograf decals. It's one of the most reliable and consistent things about their kits.

The swastika is an aftermarket addition, no modern Airfix kits include swastikas unfortunately. The "rudder scoreboard" is there, on the port side of the rudder. I initially thought it had been missed when I looked at the decal sheet because it's only in white which doesn't exactly stand out. Bombs would have been a nice inclusion, and I imagine would be popular with beginners, but that would add to the parts count and complexity which Airfix have focused on minimising. I see no reason you couldn't add these from aftermarket sources if you wish, but at that point just buy the Eduard kit.

Absolutely, I wish they were around 10ish years ago when I started! Not every kit is for us experienced modellers. Doesn't mean we can't enjoy them anyway. Ty! With the model having been in my display cabinet for a few weeks now, Iam confidently say the landing gear illusion holds up to the 3 foot rule (if it looks good enough at 3 feet away, it is good enough, or something like that anyway). Exactly, we should be celebrating the release of these kits. It's no secret that this hobby has an aging demographic, and needs new blood to survive. It's not going to get that by giving newbies complex kits. And yes, I'd agree this is a good palette cleanser. It's such an easy build where you can just have a bit of fun, and add detail only as far as you want. Been a while since I've built one of those! Two years in fact! I really should build another some time... but my 1/144 shelf is rather full (I recently had to demote one of my Tu144s to the storage shelf!).

I'm on a bit of a bf109 binge so this sounds good!

The Victor has always been moulded in a harder plastic. Original issues are in a slightly different plastic to Airfix's new hard plastic. This is by far the easiest of the three to build. The Valiant has never been issued in hard plastic, though the kit is OK as it is. The landing gear can support the model. The first issue of the vulcan is in soft plastic, which can cause a number of issues with building it. Certainly mine wasn't the easiest kit to put together. The black buck version I believe is in hard plastic, but the caveat of it being a poor attempt to represent a black buck Vulcan must still be addressed.

Until you consider that RLM 81 wasn't exactly the most standardised of paint colours

Airfix are already on the pricier side of quality vs price in my opinion, especially with still ongoing QC issues. They need to be careful with such a large price hike. These are the kinds of kits Airfix does better than anyone else. This is where paying a premium is not a problem.

Fortunately I'm not quite at the point where I'm so limited for display space and don't expect to be for a few years yet. When I do have to make tough decisions about which models to keep, I'll ask around various aircraft museums which have some models on display to see if any would take them. Certainly I'm sure some would appreciate good quality models and replacements for ones which have become damaged.

I'm the part few years, Airfix have been releasing a range of simplified starter kits. Other brands have their own kits marketed towards beginners, such as Zvezda's snap fit kits and Hobbyboss's easy assembly range. Despite being simpler, with fewer details than the counterparts marketed towards experienced modellers, many of these kits can build up into really nice models. So, I'm proposing a group build for all starter kits from any brand. How would we define a starter kit? Any kit that is marketed towards beginners, that may feature simplified construction or the inclusion of basic hobby supplies. If you want an extra challenge, try using only paints provided by the kit (if it does include any, as is common with airfix and revell starter kits) and minimal other hobby supplies. Feel free to instead take your build in a different direction, using all your modelling experience to get the most out of the kit. For inspiration, here is my recently completed Airfix Bf109f-4 starter kit