Paul H

That sounds interesting! Guessing the half a new tool could be another version of the recently released Land Rover 109", as there appears to be scope for that based on the sprue layouts - an 88" would be a great addition! However I wonder what the others could be... Wasn't there a rumour / announcement a while back that then went quiet, for an Aston-Martin DB5 from Revell? Or does this mean that Revell might be scaling down their recent 1:16 Porsche 356 to 1:24?

Thank you, yes already have that which is very useful to show the differences at 1:1 compared to a K. Interestingly, the tail numbers for the Friedrichshafen Raid have been mixed up for decades, and I think it's one of the first books that corrects this (I have also verified from period photos). Has anyone documented more on the corrections needed to the fuselage? Whilst I have a few planes now in the to-build pile, only one has been started (& not finished yet...) so I am still very much a novice with aviation models & any further guidance to the very useful info posted above by stevehed, or any other issues to watch for on the Airfix kit would be very appreciated!

The Italeri 1:24 Land Rover is a very old ex-Esci tooling, and all are variants of a 109 pickup, as opposed to the Revell which is a 109 station wagon. All the Esci / Italeri ones are curbside, so no engine detail aside from the sump, but everything you see underneath is pretty well detailed. The only instructions I can find online are here, but this should show what the detail is like: https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/1/3/0/228130-79-instructions.pdf Depending on the release, it comes with a hard top (like the fire truck one), soft top or military parts.

Did anyone completed a conversion to 1914 spec as described above? I've tried searching the forum but could only find this thread as I'm (slowly) planning a build of 874 from the Friedrichshafen Raid. However I am a novice at aircraft builds (usually a car modeller) & so any advice woud be very appreciated!

Wow!! I'd really like that 1:700 HMS Ark Royal IV, and the 1:700 HMS Andromeda looks interesting too - hopefully they will release other Leanders (or include parts / decals) as I'd want to build Apollo F70 since my late grandfather served on Ark in the early '70s, and later on Apollo.

Following this with great interest, as I don't think I've seen a build up of Heller's H Van, only the Ebbro one. The Heller version looks much more appealing to me given the different age options & engine detail.

That has got to be very disheartening... Is it worth separating the dashboard from the windscreen on this part, and then using flat acetate (or similar) for new glass, with a fabricated surround to hold them in place up against the main windscreen frame?

Those look great! Many thanks for sharing the pics. I reckon that the contrast between the shiny & weathered ones makes for a much more interesting collection!

I ordered one earlier in the week (£22:50 including postage), and it arrived today! I haven't unbagged it fully, but initial thoughts are mostly positive. However what did jump out is that there are some areas underneath where the detail on the much older Italeri kit is vastly superior. The front axle is a prime example - the Revell is very crude & toy-like, whereas Italeri's version is much more accurate to the actual steering swivel set up. The gearbox and transfer case don't look great either, but I haven't investigated further yet. However having a similar age 88" in pieces at work for reference does help though! Regarding the blanked out parts in the instruction manual, these are another set of door mirrors, and a second spare wheel with its bolt-down bracket. The extra spare wheel appears identical to the one used in the instructions, so I can only assume that it is for a version with twin spare wheels. Anyone have thoughts on whether that might be a factory version of some kind, or perhaps just safari / off road rally one?

Not familar with the rest of their 1:43 series, but the Heller SD1 is definately a very nice moulding. I bought one a while back, and was impressed by it not only for how it is for that scale but also the age (originally released in 1979 - mine was an early '80s Humbrol re-box). I haven't built it yet as I am still undecided as to which stereotypically '70s BL colour to paint it! In the meantime, I will look forward to seeing your build! I am hoping that Beemax might do a racing Vitesse version, to go along side the racing Volvo 242 turbo. I would much prefer a road car, but think this is the most likely way of seeing one as a 1:24 kit & like the Volvo, I suspect that the aftermarket will assist with the necessary upgrades (if not, I'd happily construct my own 'civilian' interior). However perhaps I am reading too much into the blurred image of the Vitesse visible on the box art behind the Volvo...

Mine should be arriving this week!

Fully agree with 1:700 being vastly preferable to 1:600 for compatability & thus a wider audience. However isn't the the Airfix 1:700 RMS Titanic simply a re-boxed Academy kit? Strangely, Revell's recent snap kit one is 1:600, despite their regular glue kit Olympic & Titanic being 1:700, but not aware of any other newly tooled 1:600 ships. At 1:350, QE / PoW works out as 800mm - the only other 1:350 kit that I know of that is larger is the Tamiya USS Enterprise. However, as there is a range of 1:200 WW2 battleships that seem to be growing, hopefully there is the market in 1:350 for a model of that size. Btw, have Airfix produced any other ships in 1:350 ship apart from the Type 45?

Send me a PM with your email address & I'll send some over. Can't post them up directly as my photo hosting is offline at the moment.

I really didn't think it would be the Vulcan, given the old one is currently listed for pre-order on Airfix's website, but am very glad to be proven wrong, as I will certainly be buying the new one!

Fantastic to see it completed as I've been following your build thread with great interest - so much so, that you inspired me to buy a copy of the book. Ebay produced a lovely hardback edition with dust cover from the first year of publication (for about the cost of a new paperback), & like Steve, I'll be refering to the pics of your excellent model when re-reading it. Really impressive work, let alone for such a small scale.

Meng's Rodney is a snap-kit - to give an idea of what it is like, here's a link to the review on here of the Bismarck in the same series: I built both the Rodney & Bismarck last year when off work recovering from pneumonia as a way of keeping myself occupied without taking on anything too complex or taxing. They were unpainted (which is why I chose them), but I was quite happy with the results. Let me know if you'd like some pics.

As much as I would love to see a modern tooling Vulcan, that the current 1:72 one is about to be re-released seems to be pretty conclusive proof that the 'big'announcement is not a new Vulcan, unless of course it is in a different scale... A 1:48 scale Vulcan (616mm in length with a 631mm wingspan) would be a similar size to what I guess is Airfix's largest model, the 1:24 de Havilland Mosquito (length 565mm, wingspan 688mm). Have aircraft kits in that size range been big enough sellers to make that kind of a big announcment likely?

That looks stunning! Would also be great for a civilian diorama with ICM's Renault London taxi.

I don't think I've ever seen a built one of these, and this looks great! Did it go together easily?

A decent tooling 1:72 Vulcan would be great - I been tempted on many occasions to buy the old one but the reviews keep putting me off. Alternatively, could be either / both of the RN's new aircraft carriers (is there any significant difference between QE & PoW?) presumably in 1:350 to match the Type 45?

Agreed - the OTS is relatively easy - it's the FHC where things become more interesting. I wonder if moulding the doors & rear hatch separately (but not hinged) as Heller did with their Renault 4 might be part of the answer for easier assembly. Definately thinking both DB4 & DB5, as they could be done from the same basic tooling. There is a very obvious tie-in for the DB5 which would I am sure be very popular if properly marketed and the previously available examples are pretty poor. However a DB4 drophead would be cool too - what with Hasegawa's Muira, Tamiya and Revell's Mini Coopers, I wonder who might then tool up a Fiat Dino coupe or Bedford VAL coach?

This!!!! Either slide moulded as you suggest or with the sills as separate pieces from the floorpan that can be attached to the body before painting & the whole set up engineered in such a way that the interior & floorpan can still be installed afterwards. Possibly easier on a roadster as the interior could be installed from the top (as I think I did on a Gunze curbside about 15 years ago) but the rear valance area can remain separate for assembly as the bumper would hide the seam (as it does on the real car). Given that there are now multiple 2CV & Renault 4 kits, a Morris Minor & a decent tooling '60s Aston are very strange omissions too...

Regarding references about this edition being to shift unsold stock, I now have one of these kits which arrived this morning and in my opinion that view is backed up based on what I have in front of me as the boxing certainly has the appearance of being a fully packed up regular Heinkel kit with the lid then replaced & the new decals thrown in on top, as opposed to a product that was originally always meant to be this edition. The box base has had the regular round sticky seals broken, and then the new lid has been sealed in a different style. Whilst what I have could be an example that was opened by the retailer, this seems unlikely as the new lid only has the (initially) unbroken seals, whereas the box base also still have their halves of the regular seals too. In addition the Motorhead decals & placement guide were all located at the top of the box above the bagged sprues, whereas the instructions (which have no reference to the new decals) & regular decals were at the bottom of the box as is usual. As to the success of this edition, whilst there are some WW2 German aircraft models I have been thinking about buying, I would never have even considered the regular Heinkel kit. And as others have said, hopefully the success of this will see other future fun editions like this from Airfix!

A new tool 1:72 Avro 504 would be great too - reviews I've read of the old one state that it is very inaccurate, & it would be good to have an updated one with the associated improvement in detail. There are also multiple versions and marking schemes that could be extracted from it - ranging from various trainers (especially in the previously kitted K guise) to the RNAS bombers used for the Friedrichshafen Raid in 1914, which was notable for being the first ever strategic bombing raid.

Thank you, and I hope your builds go well - I think it important that they are all remembered. Yes, the Avro for his father, my great grandfather who was shot down whilst bombing Zeppelin sheds in 1914 but later escaped back to Allied lines. The RN ship(s) for my grandfather (his much younger brother) who crossed the bar last year. I suspect that a diorama of HMS Apollo F70 entering Mevagissey harbour will be beyond my current skills though... Stew, I am far from a Spitfire expert, and that sort of detailed research was something I have yet to do (I have only looked into what the model of plane was, and the markings) so your advice is very much appreciated especially as I am relatively new to building aircraft models. Whilst I know that the full size changes were considerable especially under the skin, I had been hoping that the differences at 1:72 were essentially just switching to a three blade prop & selecting the appropriate wing tip & tail options, of which there are many in the Eduard kit. However I guess that it isn't as simple as that!