Paul Thompson

Agreed, except the bit about the F2b. Ever seen the original? Along with the Albatros, it was significantly tarted up, although my increasingly fragile grasp on the passage of time isn't going to chance a date on that. But it was long ago blown out of the air by the Libramodels kit, and later the Pegasus and Roden kits (of which the Roden is by far the best). A new one would be nice though. Yeah. Dream on. I'd be delighted by any new Airfix WWI stuff, in any scale, whether land, sea or air by subject, but seeing how all they could come up with for the Centenary was a re-pop of their Camel, which is the worst one ever marketted (and I'm including the Keil Kraft offering in that) in markings applicable only to a different version, then I doubt it will ever happen. The market just doesn't seem to be there to sell the numbers required. Plus, I recently built a DH4 from the most recent boxing, and I think the mould is beginning to wear out - the struts are certainly getting dodgy. I would like to make a speculation in the spirit of this thread though, but it does lie slightly to one side of where our own universe is currently at, more in the parallel one where the BE and Fokker sold well enough to encourage further new releases. Trying very hard not to wishlist, I'll put it this way: In this possibly non-existent and probably only inside my own head reality, I think a new tool 1/48th Pfalz D.3 or 3a would sell well, and with no improvement in how Airfix do things it would still put the Eduard kit (the wings of which are less than stellar) to shame. They could tie it in to the Peter Jackson remake of the Blue Max. Oh, hang on, for a moment I thought that might be a thing. But it ain't. Paul.

But the glazing was later, and as Dave suggested that could have been after cessation of use as a bomber, although it seems we can't actually put a date on the change. There's a cross section in the Aviation Guide by Huntley which shows a rearward sliding hatch, drawing done byMax Millar, for Fairey, and published by Flight, says the caption. There's also a clear photo in that book showing the slot into which the cover slid, but without evidence of the cover itself, although there's a tiny tab-like structure evident in several photos that hardly seems adequate but may be what you grabbed the thing by in order to pull it forward. The photo from Dave above labelled Battle 3 shows what I mean. Paul.

The Staaken decals stick just fine. The problem, as often the case, is that they usually prefer to shatter rather than conform to anything more convoluted than a flat surface. Paul.

Almost. There was a vacform of the FK8 by Roseplane, and a Formaplane vac of the FE2b. There was also a very good resin production of the latter by Plum Blossom. The Formaplane kit is easy enough to find, the Roseplane less so, and Plum Blossom I've never seen. Paul.

Maybe it's a geographical thing. Until 1976, in Birmingham, I used the slip three times, once for a broken bit, twice for missing bits. Then in North Wales until 1992, never, in the Netherlands until 2012, twice (both decal sheets), and since then in Scotland 5 or 6 times, once for a missing part, once for a cold shunt riddled canopy, and the rest for decal sheets. The decal sheet over the years have been too out of register to use (1/48th Hawk) (they sent three replacements, none useable but at least free), disintegration when wet (1/48th EE Lightning, replaced for free, once the kit had the wrong decals, new ones sent free, and twiced I asked if they'd sell me a set I needed for a kit not theirs. One was sent free, the other (recently for the AEW Shackleton to use on a Frog conversion) sent for postage. On 3 other occassions I had new kits with cold shunted parts but replacements were out of stock. On the whole I've been happy with the service, the only thing I'd complain about (if I was of a mind) has been the increasing requirement to provide evidence, but thinking back that is easier now back than it was in the Haldane Place days. Never had a serious short shot like some of the horror stories here, so just lucky I guess. OTOH I've often had minor short shots or broken parts, but nothing a few minutes messing about couldn't fix. The same is true from every other manufacturer I've bought, except Tamiya and Hasegawa. Having said all that, I suppose my next Airfix purchase will be entirely short shot, leaving me with some nice sprues to stretch and the knowlege that balance has been restored to the universe. Paul.

Yeah, it was really cheap. But invisible. Paul.

Have I left my cloaking device on? Paul.

FWIW someone has 7 ex-Airways vac tools up on Ebay at the moment - including one for a 1/48th Buccaneer for 300 of your Earth pounds - if you have a need for enough Buccaneers in that scale, and a large vacforming you may consider it a bargain. Rather than negativity rampant, this next bit is just meant to help folks avoid....................... I had a look at Amazon since they profess to be doing early Black Friday stuff - the Airfix kits are being compared to the RRP which they don't usually go for on Amazon anyway, so when you knock off the 2 - 4 quid Black Friday discount they cost about what they did last week Also had a look at their 21 Roden kits (blind optimism, I know) and they were going at around twice what they were a week ago. Paul.

Mine arrived yesterday. No flaws or missing bits, and altogether a classy production, well worth the dosh. Paul.

There's this by Whirlybits, still in stock at the Aviation Megatore, although I haven't seen one in the flesh: https://www.aviationmegastore.com/dh89a-dragon-rapide-detail-set-with-decals-for-aa-airfix--heller-whirlybits-wba72073-aircraft-scale-modelling/product/?action=prodinfo&art=104397 Postage to the UK is probably steep though. Paul.

How does producing and shipping Vintage Classics (much as I'd like to see them) avoid the majority of issues posed by Covid? I'd have thought R&D was the least affected part of the operation, so the major stumbling blocks remain (excuses if that seems overly gloomy. I just got up and the first coffee is only halfway down my neck). Paul.,

WW1 Wellingtons? Galloshes, maybe. Paul.

It'd have to be 1/24th because, bizarrely, the market is already saturated in other scales (albeit mostly by one company, Karaya). Paul.

Me too. Paul.

TBH I disagree with one point - I think they really do have too few spare parts, rather than fobbing you off. The latter would be guaranteed to hit them in the wallet eventually. What I think happens is that the spares stocking level is set low on the presumption that any specific product won't require more than a certain level of support. The problem being that their (the bean counters) world view doesn't anticipate a major problem with a particular kit, so when one comes along with high levels of in this case short shots needing replacements, they're not there. It's only recently that I've had to start looking for little numbers and take photos, which suggests that someone somewhere is beginning to take note that demand exceeds supply, but that they're taking the, for them, cheaper route of more thoroughly checking the legitimacy of the complaint rather than improving whatever part of the production process it is that's at fault. Sorry for the long-winded reply but I'm waiting for paint to dry - idle hands and all that.... Paul.

Well, at least you can rest assured they actually exist - my subscription copy came yesterday, and others have received it earlier. Paul.

I haven't seen it, but there's AKAN 70056. Also LifeColor Green rlm 82 22ml FS 34096, classed as NIVO. Paul.

Email them, provide the number and a photo if they're feeling stroppy, and the part turns up 2 days later. I prefer that to 'the good old days'. But it works only if they have any in stock, and they seem to keep a much smaller inventory than they did a couple of decades ago under the previous ownership but one. And short shots really do happen far too often. FWIW, I had an identical short shot to that in the first photo in one I bought 20 years ago, so getting an older kit isn't a guarantee of soundness. Paul.

Okay, postie has called, here's some photos. Seen close up, small parts like guns and bombs and cockpit parts are very crude and featureless, except the instrument panel which is okay. Struts are rather agricultural, but all have the sprue gate encroaching so by the time you've finished sanding them they'll be in scale. Flying surface rib treatment is okay IMO, and trailing edges are good. YMMV but personally I think the centre section tube framework for the top wing needs replacing, but I'll have a go at cleaning it up first, see if it survives (I've not stared it so don't know yet how the plastic will work). Decals look okay, same as in the Tripe kit, but I had an unpleasant time with those so will be cautious. Same odd grey seatbelts. On the whole, a nice kit, but something you'd have expected 20-30 years ago. Dolphin box top by Paul Thompson, Dolphin box bottom by Paul Thompson, Dolphin plastic 2 by Paul Thompson, Dolphin plastic 1 by Paul Thompson, Paul. PS, just noticed the Deathstar turbo-laser style ejector towers inside the fuselage - one each side in the visible area of the cockpit will need exterminating.

I should have one arriving tomorrow so can photograph them then if someone doesn't come up with a link. Paul.

It's a stunner, isn't it? Paul.

I take it all back, the Skytrex kits are infinitely better than that refugee from a cornflakes packet. I can understand the nostalgia value though. Paul.

Castor oil, works wonders by all accounts. It was known as a total loss system, so the oil just flew out with the exhaust - and over and into the pilot. I was happy enough with the engines in the new kit, but find these Brassin examples very tempting. Probably snaffle a Bentley. Paul.

Mike. Very nice. One small point, what you call exhaust collectors aren't, their induction pipes bringing air from the two tubes you see sticking out of the Camel (and any other rotary engined aeroplane) side panels. On various engines they tend to be copper coloured, or black even. I mention it because it's a common misconception that leads to some people painting them burnt metal, as well as going to the trouble of inappropriate exhaust staining from the pokey out bits on the cowling side panels. In case you were wondering, the exhaust comes out of a valve at the end of the cylinder near the inlets, and just spatters out as the mood takes it. Paul.