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RNLI Shannon Class Lifeboat Starter Set (A55015) 1:72 Airfix The Shannon class of RNLI lifeboats is the latest in a long line of boats that have been used by the charitable trust that protects the British coastline, and the people floating in and around it when they flounder. Originally instigated under the name Fast Carriage Boat 2, experimental hulls were tested from 2005, designed by RNLI’s own engineers with the hull based upon the Pilot vessel made in Scotland by Camarc, adapted to their use as fast boats with a fibre-reinforced composite hull and two water jets providing power that gave it a shallow draft to get closer to incidents. The first design was found to cause excess shock and vibration that would affect the crew and passengers, so in 2009 a new hull shape was developed, delaying the project by some years, with the first complete boat undergoing sea trials in 2012, by which time it had been given the name of Shannon, named after the river in Ireland. The first delivery occurred in 2014, and was named The Morrell after a generous fund-raiser and donator to the RNLI, who bequeathed £6m to the trust on her death. The Shannon class vessels were intended to replace the Mersey Class boats in service, and some Trent class where the new boat had been deemed preferable, and production proceeded, changing build and fit-out location during the run, using modern technology that permits the crews to operate more efficiently, allowing them to carry out different tasks without leaving their shock-absorbing seats. Excluding the initial prototype there were fifty-seven built, some of which are launched via slipway, while others are kept afloat in a dock, and a few are launched vertically by davit, protecting our coasts with the valiant efforts of their crews and support staff. The Kit This is a brand-new tooling from Airfix, broadening their range of Lifeboat kits by one, with a thoroughly modern tooling. This first boxing is a Starter Set, so the end-opening box has a header for vertical display at the top, and inside are five sprues in Airfix’s new darker grey styrene, a clear sprue in a separate bag, plus two bags totalling ten thumb-pots of acrylic paint, a tube of cement, and two Humbrol brushes of size 0 and 4, both protected by a clear tube that keeps the bristles straight during transit and storage. Detail on the kit is good, and although it is ostensibly an exterior kit, there is a basic interior included that will be seen through the clear windows at the front and sides of the superstructure. Construction begins with a practical-looking stand that is formed from a rectangular base and two ‘bow-tie’ trestles, one at each end. The hull is the first part of the boat to be made, gluing the two halves together and adding two formers in grooves inside the hull halves, then capping the stern with a single part. Areas that should be glued are picked out in yellow in the instructions, which will be helpful for any novices that purchase the kit, and location of the parts are shown in a small sprue diagram in the corner of each step, again helping any modeller, let alone the beginners. Another scrap drawing shows the completed assemblies as they should appear at the end of the steps. The deck is next, which has six seats moulded into it, the first four of which have consoles to their front, gluing in place over the hull, and joined at the rear by a pair of water jet outlets. The superstructure is moulded as a large single part, into which the aft bulkhead and steering position is inserted, consisting of five parts that slot into the rear from below after detail painting. Flipping the structure over, two detail parts are added to the sides, and the glazing is inserted into the roof, all the windows carried on one part. Once it is complete and painted, it is mated with the hull over the seats, which you will have painted by now, hopefully. Inverting the model allows you to add three strakes to the underside at the stern, then the model is best placed on its stand to apply all the various handrails and deck equipment over the next five steps, adding a spray-deflecting windscreen to the roof in front of the helmsman’s position. The modern version of a mast is built from three parts and is fixed to the roof above the wheel house on both sides, mounting various antennae to the roof rails at various locations, completing the model. Markings All the Shannon class boats are painted and liveried in the same manner, with just their names and codes setting them apart. This boxing allows the modeller to build the RNLI Jock & Anne Slater that is stationed at Wicklow, and entered service with a call-out on Tuesday 9 April 2019, when she assisted a Whelk trawler that was suffering engine problems. If you want to build another boat from the fleet, Airfix have created a decal sheet that is available separately, and will allow you to build the whole fleet if you are so minded, or share it with friends if you have different options in mind. You can find the sheet on the Airfix site here. Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion Maritime modelling isn’t usually my thing, and neither is 1:72, but this is an appealing model, to a great extent because it’s well-designed and looks good, but also because it’s a tribute to our brave RNLI crews and support staff that wouldn’t hesitate to plunge into dangerous waters to help any of us if we got into trouble on the water. NOTE: Airfix donate a small amount to the RNLI cause with every sale of this kit, so make sure you buy one, or drop some coin of the realm into their coffers next time you see them fund-raising. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

NATO Tigermeet 60th Anniversary Gift Set (05671) 1/72 Revell NATO Tigers has historically been active since RAF 74 Sqn reformed in the early 1960s and they were in touch with the then USAF 79TFS at RAF Woodbridge. This initial meeting of Squadrons would lead to the first Tiger Meet in 1962 with eight Squadrons being invited. These meets have continued every year all over Europe involving many different Units and Aircraft. They all in some way employ tiger markings, some subtle, and some not so! A full history of Tigermeets can be found here. This boxing from Revell celebrates Tigermeets 60th Anniversary with both an F-16 and Tornado in a double boxing supplied with paints and glue. F-16 Here Revell have re-released their own tool kit which traces it's history back to 2000. Up first the cockpit is built up. The 3 part seat is made up and the pilot added of you want to. The cockpit is added into the top fuselage insert. At the front of the fuselage the main engine intake is assembled and joined on, and the main gear bays go in. The fuselage sections can then be assembled,and at the rear the exhaust nozzle is also added. The tailplanes and ventral fins can also go on at this stage. as well as the arrestor hook. Flipping back the nose the nose cone and front bird slicer IFF antennas go on. Following this we flip straight back to the tail and attach the tail assembly. Work now moves to the undercarriage. The main gear legs and their retraction struts go in, these are followed by the main gear doors and the wheels. At the front the nose gear leg and its retraction strut are added along with the nose well bay door. To finish off the model a variety of small airframe fittings such as pitot tubes, nav lights blade antennas are added. If the canopy is to be posed open then the strut to open it needs to be fixed in to the frame in the middle of the canopy. Pylons can be added. A wide array of stores are provided with this kit, however most of them wont be used. Having seen pictures of this aircraft from the Tigermeet they dont carry much to them The Tornado This is Revell's own kit again, this is a nice kit with recessed panel lines and rivet details that are are beautifully restrained. The undercarriage legs feature hydraulic lines and the landing gear bays are just as nice. Construction begins with the four-part ejector seats. As is the case with the rest of the cockpit, these are excellent and make resin replacements a luxury. Revell provide decals for the instrument panels, but to be honest the raised detail on these parts is so nice that I would imagine many modellers will choose not to use them. The nose cone is one of the two (very) minor issues with this kit, as it doesn’t quite capture the shape of the real thing. It is slightly too pointed, although it looks convincing enough from most angles. As is the case with most kits of variable geometry aircraft, Revell have engineered the kit in such a way as to make the wings and horizontal stabilisers moveable once the kit is complete. Having built my Revell Tornado in this way, I can vouch that the system works well, although the moveable pylons are quite fiddly. Painting the model will certainly be easier with the wings fixed in place. Once the wings and tail planes are in place, the rear fuselage sub-assembly is complete and can be added to the forward fuselage. The rest of the build is fairly straightforward. The multi-part intakes are very nice, but will benefit from some blanking off otherwise it will be possible to see through to the back of the fuselage. Airbrakes can also be posed open or closed and, in keeping with the rest of the kit, are beautifully detailed. The undercarriage is also very nice, although the nose gear leg is a little too long (the second of the two minor issues with the kit) giving the aircraft a slight nose-up attitude. This can be fixed fairly easily though. Decals A new sheet of decals from Cartograf (so no issues there!) provides a single option for each aircraft. For the F-16 it is 31 Sqn Belgian Air Force, seen at the 2009 Tigermeet designed by Daco. For the Tornado it is for or a Tornado IDS painted in a commemorative scheme designed by Jörg Wingens for the 50th anniversary of AG51 and Tigermeet 2009, these decals designed by Syhart Decal. Conclusion These are both goo tool kits from Revell and despite thier age and many re-releases over the years the moulds seem to be holding up very well, the addition of a Tigermeet boxing is a good one. Again modellers will need to look at picture of the real thing to get it 100% accurate. Overall recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Panther Ausf. D Gift Set (03273) 1/35 Revell The Panther was Germany's answer to the surprise appearance of the Russian T-34 after they finally reacted to the invasion that was Operation Barbarosa. Although the project had been in gestation some time before, they took some design cues from the T-34 in the shape of the sloped armour, resulting in the Panther that was intended to fill the gap between the Panzer.IV and the (then) new Panzer VI Tiger. It was eventually supposed to replace both the Pz.IV and the earlier Pz.III that was really showing its age, but in reality it often fought alongside the Panzer IV. It was planned as a lighter, more manoeuvrable tank than the Tiger, and was fitted with a high velocity gun from the outset, which gave it enormous penetrating power that was only equalled by the British 17-pounder fitted to the Sherman to make the Firefly. The sloped frontal armour gave it an increased effective armour thickness, but this was not so true of the side armour, which was weaker, and this area became the preferred target area of allied tanks, especially in urban combat where this was a telling issue. Like most German WWII tanks it was complex to produce, so suffered in terms of volume produced, this led to it being rushed into service with quite a list of problems still to sort out. Later production solved most of these initial gremlins, but loses in the interim were high with many being abandoned after failing during combat. Curiously, the Ausf.D was the first to enter production, with the Ausf.A following later in 1943, replacing attrition of the less reliable Ausf.Ds until they themselves were superseded by the Ausf.G, which became the final major variant with increased ammo storage, simplified design to ease production, and further improvements to reliability, although this was never fully cured with a high rate of attrition due to mechanical issues, some of which resulted in catastrophic fires. The Kit Here Revell have re-boxed the ICM kit from 2005. Here this is boxed with Paints, glue and a poster which is the same as the box top? This is said to be a nice rendition of an Early/Mid Ausf D with a good level of detail. Its worth noting that full link & Length tracks are provided in the box for this kit. Surface detail of the kit is good with areas such as weld seems visible. As well as the 4 sprues for the track there are two sprues for the running gear, two for the tank parts as well as the upper and lower hull mouldings. First up all the suspension and drive train parts are fitted to the lower hull. Eight pairs of road wheels are fitted to each side along with drive sprockets, and idler wheels. The rear hull plate then goes on with the exhausts and rear tanks. Next up the tracks are built up. The instructions say 27 links per track but this is clearly wrong. Periscopes are added to the inside of the upper hull then it can be joined to the lower hull. On the engine deck grills and fans are added along with the engine hatch. At the front of the tank the front hatches are also added and the gun travel lock placed between the hatches. Tools and spare track links are placed on the hull sides. With the hull finished the turret is constructed and a basic gun mantle added to the front. Smoke dischargers can be added to the turret though I have read these were only fitted to early tanks? The two part gun barrel can then be added to the turret and it then attached to the tank. The last items to be added are the side skirts, tow cable and aerials. Decals A small sheet provides markings for two tanks. Div Grossdeutschland "501" Pz.Bat 51, Kursk 1943 (Overall Dark Yellow) Div Grossdeutschland "824" Pz.Bat 51, Kursk 1943 (Dark Yellow, Brown, Green Camo) Conclusion This seems to be a good looking Panther kit and should build up into a good looking model. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

In theory this will be a simple build from a gift set bought in Lidl for £4 earlier this year. It's only got 19 parts and has the paint needed, as well as a simple paint brush. There are only a few parts but there will be a bit of cleaning up done. Simple one page of instructions. And an absolutely georgeous transfer sheet including a multicoloured one for the transom. And a bag of paints and cement. All you need need to make an Airfix classic. So off we go.

T11 by jongwinnett, on Flickr T10 by jongwinnett, on Flickr T9 by jongwinnett, on Flickr T3 by jongwinnett, on Flickr T1 by jongwinnett, on Flickr de Havilland DH.82a Tiger Moth by jongwinnett, on Flickr WIP

New Heller Kits Due In To Stock In August. HEL49893G - Heller 1:72 Gift Set - Tiger I (Late) £12.99 HEL79893 - Heller 1:72 - Tiger I Late £9.99 HEL80257 - Heller 1:72 - Alpha Jet £9.99 Click on the link below or click on the pictures www.creativemodels.co.uk