jasman71

Oh I hope so. I know why Airfix do them the way they do them but it would be nice to have some figures with maybe optional arms and heads with / without masks/ visors attached

I built the KH one…. Well, I say I built it…it was more an exercise of perseverance (Percy who?) or plastic masochism.. I think I bought when it came out (2017?), started it, got as far as the fuselage put together, intending to scratch build an entire engine for one side… swore a lot, got sick of it and put it away.. moved house twice, picked it up again in 2024, by which time BlackDog had released an engine, so bought that, muddled through..swore a lot.. but finished the damned thing, and it now sits on the shelf with lots of opened panels, as a reminder that if I can finish that, albeit over 7 years, then I can finish anything ! But by Dawkins, you couldn’t pay me to make another one! actually it sits next to a revell 48th Tornado F3, also with opened panels galore…so using the Law of Sod..please..Airfix 🙂

I recently made a 1/48 Tornado in flight as a commission and found someone on eBay who makes aircrew specific for the Revell kit in proper attire and poses, far more effective than the “hands on lap, mask off” standard pose that airfix have seemingly employed for decades . May have to buy another set and see if I can adapt/modify for the Jaguar as I intend to make mine as part of a desert storm in-flight mini collection

Well tbh these days I’d do well to recall what I paid for a kit that I may have had 30 years or more*, but I’ve sold a few rare ones eg bagged unopened Pegasus EAPs, first edition Airfix bagged Whirlwind and Corsair, Hasegawa F-110, all sorts , and I know I sold them for more than I paid for them at the time .. hasn’t always been the case though, sadly.. And I’m perpetually puzzled by that unwritten Newton’s Fourth Law of Presumptive Inheritance, you know, where you make the money and the higher powers get wind of this and then instantly assume we’ve made it! *that’s my standard speech whenever SWMBO enquires what so and so is worth now! incidentally despite selling all of those, in the whole of this year I’ve only actually bought 7!

I’ve been selling off virtually all my loft insulation since the start of September on a certain auction site - currently sold 189 with about 200 still listed and more still up there - and I have to say it has been wonderfully cathartic and so far I’ve not needed counselling 😉 However, despite being 50-something I am still puzzled by this phrase uttered by SWMBO.. “ so what can we buy with the money we’ve made?” Even my babel fish is puzzled by that one !

Well the Junglie wasn’t really that much of a surprise, I think we all knew it was a case of when, not if. However the Lysander looks great. I made the Sea King and went mad with added engine etc and folded blade bags and all sorts of devilry, so I don’t think I’ll go through another one, though it is a fantastic kit and plenty for your pound. The Lizzie.. well it’s not my genre but I have to say it’s so nice to see the pilot figures in more realistic poses rather than the standard polite pose of hands clasped on lap.! I hope it sells well for them, and it’s not long til we all start speculating on what they’re gonna announce for next year!

Well in my entire modelling lifetime (currently forty..cough…seven…years..) I’ve never had or made a Hasegawa/Revell Phantom, but while I’m currently selling off my 72 scale stash on a certain auction site, one came up for sale in the Hasegawa guise and even though I’ve never been a massive fan of the plane, I felt having one sat there with its nose in the air was necessary given my build preferences for postwar RAF and RN stuff.. So the logical law of Sod dictateth that in a couple of weeks one will be announced in a shiny red box ! Funny thing though, my usual course of action once I order any kit now is to see what aftermarket stuff is available for it, especially for moulds that (like me) are no spring chicken..

Oh god…the Kitty Hawk jag… There’s very few kits I can say j started in 2017 and actually finished in 2023! I literally got fed up barely halfway through, I had all j tensions of scratch building an engine to fit the back end, and there it stayed.. until Blackdog brought one out which inspired me to finish the damn thing . oh actually I can think of another one.. the Revell Tornado I also lost the mojo with the same year until I finished that earlier this year ! I think once you’re used to the quality of the likes of the Airfix Sea King, Buccaneer and Gannet, it really shows how needed a new Jaguar, Typhoon and Tornado are to the same standard. (and again, having done / finished all three this year, that means they’re bound to come out now!)

Well my annual predictions are pretty much the same each year really … and by predictions I do, of course, mean “ oh please oh please oh please”.. but seeing as I’ve not written it on here for a couple of years.. all in 1/48 (I no longer deal with anything smaller, as Hedy Lamarr once said….possibly) Westland Whirlwind (Helicopter) Westland Puma (really need this! Why has it been so neglected for so long?) Westland Wasp / Scout (ditto) Westland Wildcat Gazelle possibly earlier choppers like Dragonfly and Belvedere but I’m not sure they’d sell as well as the above Harvard (look how many schemes they could release it with) Sea Venom Scimitar Balliol Tucano Jaguar Typhoon Tornado (imagine any of those to their latest standards! ) we live in hope

I thought Classic Airframes were meant to have been doing one years ago? Oh well, opportunity there for Airfix!

Notice on the Hannants page that it is/was the top selling new item, now showing as out of stock. Maybe if or or when they do release it they’ll have a huge disclaimer on the front along the lines of “this is a plastic model kit. Any resemblance to any flying machine..living or dead...is purely coincidental. You will find enough parts to construct one Hullabaloo Weather Balloon within this box. Cement, paints, and historical accuracy not included.”

Many thanks, John, those are fantastic!

That's terrific, thanks. There's a smaller version of this pic in the Crowood book, along with a few other views, but at least with this one I can zoom in on it. Noting the scuffed up tops where work boots have been, and the red beware tapes on the stabiliser corners, and what appears to be the white finish already sprayed presumably before the fin and stabilisers were mounted. Note also the photo has been flipped horizontally

First impression was it looks like 222 after it's strip down during it's restoration. Don't think it's 220 as that has the extra struts on the main u/c bogies

I can't remember where I read it, but apparently he was adamant that he did NOT order the destruction of the construction jigs. Well somebody did, very much like the Avro Arrow situation too (though I heard that was more because of rumours of KGB infiltration in the work force).