fightersweep

Nice to see this one coming back. It's a great kit!

Glad you asked this question. Don't know the answer myself, but I'm planning on building John "Jeff" Hawke's CASA 352 which I remember having the same blue underside colour despite the repaint in Luftwaffe markings.

Thanks for that fun modelling memory! Absolutely anything requiring light grey = Humbrol 64. Were any other light greys actually available back then?? Great to see the Mk IX here. We all must have built at least one. I built one, but was never happy with the finish. Good excuse to have another crack at it.

Looks like the lovechild of an I-153 and a Gee Bee racer. I'm sold!

I think I read the same somewhere too. It may have actually been in the accompanying PSL/Airfix book on detailing the 1/24 Spitfire. The only problem I have with the original big Spit is that the windscreen and canopy seems a bit squat in appearance. I don't think the shape of the cross section of the top of frame 12 is quite right either, being too rounded in shape and again too squat. Just my opinion of course, but that area on the Airfix Mk 1 just all looks a bit squashed. Could be worse though. Trumpeter made a right mess of the cockpit area and canopy on their 1/24 kit. I feel confident that Airfix will get this right on the new Mk IX. Well, fingers crossed anway!

@Johnson I've always been led to believe that the old Airfix Spitfire, despite being old, is still pretty accurate. The only gripe I've heard relates to the canopy. Looking at the E wing parts above, I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be able to fit the new kit if that is accurate also as the wing design was the same. I'll certainly give it a go. Besides, I'm pretty sure Buchon Scale Models will also produce stuff for the new kit too. I had a chat with the owner last week and he's keen to do a Mk XIV conversion too, and the Airfix IX will be a great starting point for that. Steve

Well, as I mentioned before, anyone wanting to use aftermarket will be able to get anything they need from Buchon Scale Models, including the bulged upper cowling of the Mk XVI. I don't have any connection with the company, but having seen their up and coming products for 1/24 Mk IXs and XVIs, it would be silly not to share with the advent of the Airfix kit.

Just had a look at that. Very nice indeed, and fairly reasonably priced if compared to the silly auction prices they go for.

I'll certainly second that! The one and only time I got my mitts on the SRN.1 was back in 1984 when I 15. I found one languishing high up on a dusty shelf in a local newsagents by sheer luck. Must have been there for years as it was in a type 4 box dating from the mid 70s. My best mate and modelling buddy was with me, and we both zeroed in on the SRN.1, but I got there first as I was a good foot taller than he was. I don't think he's ever forgiven me for that! Up there with the SRN.1 was a Boeing Vertol and an Ariel Arrow motorbike. I grabbed all three. I'd love the chance to have another crack at those kits. Steve

Here's just a fun little build I threw together in an afternoon years ago and painted with hairy sticks. As Matchbox stated, you could finish your model with paints, or just take advantage of their choice of two plastic colours and just apply the decals. However, what if you were mad enough do both??

Along with @davecov, I'm really looking forward to this build too although I didn't get to build this one back in the day myself. My best mate did build it though and I remember really wanting the 410 myself after that. I do have one in the stash waiting in the wings, but I'm really keen to see this build take shape. Steve

I've just realised that I have a Monogram 1/48 B-26 Marauder in the stash with a Big Ed set and other goodies to throw in. Could I join the GB with this entry please? Steve

Thanks everyone! Hoping to get started on the kit this evening. I do think the decals could be saved, and I'm feeling very tempted by the box art version, but part of me also wants to do a 322nd Bomb Group aircraft. They were based at Andrewsfield where I bought my original kit. For that choice, I do have some spare Flak Bait and Mild and Bitter decals from some Airfix kits and both of these options flew with the 322nd. However, I do have a second Matchbox B-26 that I could try and fit into the GB, so I could build both versions! Regarding the Airfix B-26. I have no idea why, but I have never built and finished that kit. I even have a couple in the stash and also bought one back in the 80s, but somehow, I have never finished one. I must put that right. I'd love a Hasegawa B-26, but the prices of those scare me. Apart from that, a 1/48 Monogram version languishes in the stash with a Eduard Big Ed set. Brainwave! Maybe I should enter that into the Classic Revell-o-gram GB? Steve

I'm wondering if it's because the GR.3 has been released fairly recently in a new Airfix "red box" along with the SHAR back in 2010. Being that this is the "Classics" range, I guess they have gone with the original incarnation of the kit. I think the last time the Harrier got released purely as the GR.1 was back in 1990. Agree though that a Falklands anniversary tie in would have made sense. Perhaps they still have something up their sleeves. Steve

Never bought an Air Graphics kit before, but I WANT that AOP9 and the Anson C.19. Can't wait! Any ideas on what the prices may be as I'm not familiar with them. Steve

Hi all! Well, I finally managed to make it into the Matchbox GB after a Christmas filled with Covid cheer and a good week or so of catching up with all the things that can't be done whilst in isolation for three weeks. It's not been a lot of fun. I've been blown away by the scale of this GB and the amazing start it has gotten off to, so I will try and catch up with all the many build threads. That could take until June to do in itself! Time though, to throw my first contribution into the ring. Matchbox's PK-407 1/72 Martin B-26 Marauder holds a special place for the early teenage me. It started a 20 association with Martin's "Baltimore Whore" and the opportunity to meet many 9th Air Force B-26 veterans back in the early 90s. A school friend of mine, another keen modeller, used to volunteer with his Dad at the Rebel Air Museum at Andrewsfield in Essex. A small museum dedicated to the B-26 Marauder and the 9th Air Force in Essex during WW2. This would have been around 1984. They had both previously helped out at the Historic Aircraft Museum at Southend, but moved to the Rebels when the former shut it doors in 1983. I got asked one day if I would like to visit the museum with them, and so spent a great day at Andrewsfield looking at the exhibits and many photos and talking at great length with Stan Brett, the museum's founder. I hadn't really ever heard about the 9th Air Force or the Marauder before. Only the 8th and it's B-17s and B-24s. so I found it to be a really interesting lesson on the history that sat unawares on my own doorstep. Incidentally, the museums prize exhibit was the largest surviving piece of B-26 Marauder left in the UK. A chunk of the tail including the rear gun position. It originally came from a 323rd Bomb Group aircraft based at nearby Earls Colne, where the museum ended up moving to a few years later. I decided that I would like to join as a volunteer and on the way out, perused the small museum shop. The first thing that caught my eye was a small selection of Matchbox kits, and I just about to part with my money for the B-25 Mitchell, when Stan stopped me. "I reckon being that you are standing in a museum just to the side of what used to be the main runway of a former Marauder base, you really should buy this instead". And on saying this, he put the Mitchell to one side of the counter and put the Matchbox Marauder in it's place in front of me. I must admit, it made me feel like a bit of a pariah for choosing the Mitchell initially, so I readily bought the Marauder and began an association with the B-26 and her crews that lasted 20 years. Come to think of it, the B-26 Marauder was the first Matchbox "Red Range" kit I bought. I was usually restricted to Purple or Orange range kits, but this was one of those rare occasions that I had a little extra cash to spare. I couldn't wait to get cracking on this new Matchbox kit and as soon as I got home, I made a start. I remember being rather impressed with the B-26 and decided to finish the model as "Bar Fly" of the 386th Bomb Group at Great Dunmow in Essex. I wanted to do the colourful "Big Hairy Bird" scheme of the Rivenhall based 397th Bomb Group, but I hated brush painting silver back then. Airbrush? What was one of those? Incidentally, a few years later, I helped the museum recover a blast door from the Norden bomb sight store at Rivenhall. We recovered it as it was still adorned with the original painted record of the group's missions that made a great exhibit! I remember being quite happy with my finished Marauder. It survived a few years and even took part in my English CSE oral exam as I decided to talk about my modelling and museum volunteer hobby. To be honest, I couldn't think of much else to talk about anyway, and it did earn me an A, so all's well that ends well. So! Thanks to this superb GB, I get to revisit the Matchbox Martin B-26 Marauder after 38 years. What are my initial thoughts after all these years. Well, there's the lovely Roy Huxley artwork for starters... What a beauty! The 397th's "Big Hairy Bird" shown attacking targets behind the Normandy beachhead on D-Day. Probably a bridge as these were the speciality target of the 397th who became known as the "Bridge Busters". For me, this is the classic Matchbox box design for me. The full artwork, the striking Matchbox logo of the late 70s, the window of delights on the back along with the colour illustrations of all three versions, and all the other product information on the sides of the boxes along with images of other kits in the range to tempt. What's not to like? The all important Matchbox instructions and decals. All standard fare here, except my original instruction sheet was plain white. This time around, I have this funky orange version which must place it firmly in the 1970s. An original 1976 release perhaps? Either way, I am transported back to the time of Draylon with lashings of brown and orange. The decal design looks fantastic and colourful, but I think this example maybe past it's prime. In short, I think it's knackered. I have a spare Airfix sheet that may come to the rescue. We'll start with this olive drab sprue that contains the fuselage halves as this was always the first sprue to receive a good fondling from me after any purchase. Exactly as I remember it. Even the plastic colour is the same as my original purchase. It's not bad at all. Nice and crisp and the scribed detail is not too heavy at all. There's some raised panel lines thrown in for good measure too. Overall though, it's all quite clean looking which is good as the B-26 was a clean aeroplane construction wise. Next up, the light grey sprue containing the wing undersides, engine cowlings, intakes and nacelles. Again, all crisply done and looking ok. I remember there being some fiddley fillets between the nacelles and wings and the cowling intakes were a bit of a pain to fit too. We'll see how all that goes second time around. Not oodles of detail, but hey! It's a Matchbox kit! The final black sprue contains the under trollies, engines and cockpit area and general assorted carpet monster fodder. Again, not bad at all. Decent enough renditions of the R-2800s (well, at least there's two banks of pistons), all of the important bits in the cockpit and some rudimentary nose wheel well detail. We also get three generic Matchbox pilots wearing stuff that resembles Louis Bleriot's aviator clobber circa 1909. Random. The props are ok too. Ok, it's not as detailed as the rather nice Airfix offering from the same period, but it does knock the old Revell rivet monster out of the park. It's a good, solid rendition of a B-26 Marauder and I'm looking forward to building it again. I'm also looking forward to giving some more love to this aircraft. It's didn't get a lot in it's day, and kit wise, we don't really see a lot built here generally. I came to love the B-26 during my time with the Rebel Air Museum, but not as much as the crews I met that flew combat missions on the aircraft. They were fiercely loyal to the B-26 Marauder. They loved it, defended it's honour and were proud of their combat record and the low loss rate the B-26 had at the war's end. They even called themselves the "Marauder Men". Right. I have waffled on far too much. Time to build this beast! Steve

If it helps, 1/24 Spitfire wingspan 46cms, 1/72 Lancaster wingspan 43cms. Not that big then. Bad monkey wins

Sorry to hear that Pat! Hope Mrs Jockney gets well soon and you escape the covid! We're all good thanks. The kids had it very mild. I've seen them with worse mild colds. The wife was ok with it too, and somehow, I escaped it. The biggest pain was the forced isolation and the mixed information. We had calls from the NHS telling us what we had to "legally" do, and the the kid's school hassling us to get them back and contradicting everything the NHS told us to do. It actually got quite annoying, and I felt like telling them all to go forth! Christmas was a damp squib, but we made the most of it. All I want to do now is build models. Preferably Matchbox models! Keep safe! Steve

I well and truly missed the start on this GB. Unfortunately, a household of six dropping with Covid before, during and after Christmas meant a very long period of isolation. After coming out of that, it was get the business up and running again and two vehicles needing MOTs. It's been a bit manic and I haven't cast my dark shadow over the workbench for weeks! Great to see such a fantastic start to this GB. Give me a day or two, and I'll be pitching in with you guys. B-26B first up! Steve

Not a scale I build in very often, but this Anson will be an exception. Well done Airfix! Feels like the 60s and 70s glory days all over again.

Another potential nostalgia build for me. I've already got three G.50s, but one is in a blister pack and the other two in very minty 70s boxes so they sit firmly in the collection. Not the first kit I built by far, but one for some reason that captured my imagination. I always liked the box art for this one too. So, I'm pleased to see this Vintage Classics re-release. At the very least, it means a good set of decals and the chance to do a better job than I did in 1982. Well. Maybe.

Happy with all of those, but the Beaver and Basset get a big YES from me! Cherokee Arrow next year.

I think those sprue shots confirm to myself that a pre-order of one kit is not going to be enough. There's a lot of possibilities on those sprues even without the soon to be available conversions. I think a IXe, XVIe and an VIII will be a certainty from Airfix in the future.

Well, my finger just happened to slip on Hannant's pre-order button, so I'm pre-empting a few weeks sleeping on the sofa this summer if that helps.

Not sure, but I bet there'll be some cracking resin options released soon afterwards....along with a very, very expensive Eduard Big Ed set!