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So this will hopefully be my second entry in this GB Being lazy the following is largely a copy of what I said in my MC 200 entry so if you have read that you may wish to skip this with the possible exception of the 2nd paragraph! As a teenager in the 1960's it took a while before I became aquainted with Italian aircraft from WWII. In fact I think it is true to say I had no knowledge at all until I started buying the fighter volumes 1-4 from William Green's series "Warplanes" published by Macdonalds starting in 1963 with Vol 3 Japan and Russia. Coincidentally I saw and bought the Frog MC 202 Folgore the same year, closely followed by Revell's Fiat CR 42 in 1965. The MC 200 from Revell and the Fiat G 50 from Airfix arrived I think in 1967, and I still have both somewhere in my roof space. This particular kit is a more recent boxing from around 1990 bought a few years back and I will build it over the next few weeks. It is as I recall a nice little kit though I seem to remember the fit of the wings was somewhat poor and I am not entirely convinced by the totally flat fuselage underside. The cockpit is non - existent as usual with kits of this age, but as with the MC 200 there is only a tiny opening so it will not be visible. I will box in the wheel wells and might do a modest amount on the cockpit but otherwise it will be OOB, and a fairly quick build. I do have some resin wheels and will spend a bit of time on the exterior finish which was pretty rushed on my original build. I now have access to rather more info so it should look a bit better. Like the Japanese, the Italians in the 1930's were used to light open cockpit biplanes such as the Fiat CR32 and were reluctant to move to closed cockpit monoplanes with reduced manoeuvrability. Add to that the problems the Italian Aero Engine industry had producing high powered engines (usually radials) and at the start of the war the Italian Airforce was still basically equipped with CR42 biplanes together with a few of the earlier CR 32, though the MC 200 and G 50 were steadily taking their place. With speeds in the region of 300 mph and light armament of only 2 Mg in the cowling, they were already obsolescent and only their manoeuvrability kept them just about viable. Later, both types would benefit from imported/licence built German inline engines which made them far more of a threat. Italian aircraft and pilots have received a bad press or been ignored but in truth they were generally as brave and skillfull as any allied pilots, let down by a underdeveloped aircraft industry and poor political management. Not sure exactly when I will start this but I should be able to slot it in whilst waiting for glue/paint/decals to dry on some of my other builds. More as and when. Pete

Oh dear.... I’m hooked on this group build! Next cab off the rank is from Airfix: Kit: Airfix 1/48 Spitfire Vb “Specialist Spitfires” Decals: Victory Productions “Aces of the Empire” Extras: Eduard harnesses The subject this time is Spitfire Vb Trop EP706 of 249 Squadron RAF based in Malta in Sept 1942 and flown by George Beurling. The decal sheet asserts that this was not one of the Malta ‘blue’ Spitfires, so I’ll be sticking with the mid stone/ dark earth / azure blue scheme. They also refer to photographs of this aircraft but I have yet to find any on google - if anyone has a photo to help that would be much appreciated! First, the box/ sprue shots and then a look at the profile!

I first built this kit back in 1983, qualifying it for this Group Build. I built it again in 2005: There are of course some things that could have been improved upon, such as removing that ugly "step" at the lower port fuselage/wing join. And moving that small starboard-side fairing inboard, where it ought to be. Those are amongst the things I hope to get right this time. The kit I'm building this time is the starter kit boxing, which I bought in 2012: I have toyed with the idea of adding underwing bombs, and/or completing it in the "Dieppe" scheme, with a white forward fuselage, and black underwing surfaces. But as I also have the Pavla kit - which has both of these options included - I may just build this out of the box. Since I actually started to build this kit a few days ago, the first progress post is going to follow ... very quickly.

I just picked one of these up for a bargain price on eBay and was wondering what it would take to backdate it to a IIb ? I have an unloved Revell IIa as a doner kit, as far as I can see I'd need to change the spinner and prop, oil filter and exhaust stacks, all of which should be easy ( famous last words ). Is there anything I've missed ?

Airfix is to release in September 2019 a new tool 1/72nd Blackburn Buccaneer S.Mk.2 kit - ref. A06021 Source: https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/shop/new-for-2019/blackburn-buccaneer-s-mk-2-rn-1-72.html V.P.

Hi all and this is the second build I'm in with, Airfix's lovely SH-2F Seasprite.. Airfix SH-2F Seasprite Box art by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr I've never built this kit but judging by the contents and ones I've seen made, it's a little cracker and one of Airfix's best (and underated) I think. Airfix SH-2F Seasprite contents by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr If you're interested in their story, here's a short documentary about Kaman - I think Anton Flettner joined them after WW2 Cheers, Dermot

Hello everyone, This is my entry into the GB; Airfix's big ole' Hurricane: Just a few little extras. A test fit of the kit showed some warping of the major components, hopefully not too bad so as to hinder the build. Cheers, Mark.

I'm joining in with this Airfix's Sea King HC4. A proper 'Junglie'. It's a nice kit with 5 sprues of crisply moulded grey plastic. Though there is is a lack of rivets compared to older Sea Kings. Also a single but fairly busy clear sprue. A little different from my recent Seafires with a canopy and a couple of other small parts. Usual modern style Airfix instructions. A number of options in the box, the biggest being the option of a folded tail and folded rotors. Comprehensive transfer sheet with loads of stencils and two options. I'll be doing this one. Now for the paint.

My second contribution will be another Sea King this time a 'Baggie' of 849 NavalAir Squadron. The base kit dates from the original 1969 Airfix S-61 Sea King which I think was issued in Apollo rescue chopper livery. This boxing dates from 2010 and has a bundle of new sprues with updated parts and the necessary parts to make an AEW2 or an ASaC7 both from 849 NAS.

Having only built aircraft to 1/72 scale I thought it time to test myself on a larger scale. Having enjoyed the build of Airfix’s 1/72 Stuka I thought I’d have a bash at their 1/48 87R B2 version. The kit is well moulded with some nice detail and goes together well. There are various build options to choose from which is nice, but I wasn’t keen on the standard European scheme that’s suggested so after a bit of digging on t’internet I found that the aircraft chosen by Airfix also served in North Africa so a set of ROPos decals were purchased along with Eduard’s PE set for the kit. Paint is Tamiya acrylics, lacquers are Humbrol and the aerial wire is Uschi van der Rosten thread. For the weathering effect I pre-shaded with dark grey and white followed by four different shades of RLM 79 sandgelb which gives an uneven effect on what would otherwise be a really monotone scheme. The lower surface is simply the usual RLM 78 hellblau, again with some pre-shading. No washes were used on the model but I did use oils to give further effects. It’s never going to be a show winner but I think it’s probably the best aircraft kit I’ve done to date so I’m happy, which is what the hobby is all about, making us happy. As ever, all constructive criticism welcome.

BIG Airfix News… We have some exciting news from the Airfix team today, the news we know you have all be waiting to hear! Airfix Club is back and goes live today at 12pm! This is going to be the biggest news today for our fans all over the World. From 12pm (U.K) the Airfix Club webpage will be live and awaiting its first members who we know are eagerly waiting after we sent out a teaser on our Social Media platforms yesterday. The above image shows what member will receive if they decide to go with our Airfix Club Plus option, as we have not one but two types of Club available, which are both available to UK and overseas members. Airfix Club Membership Packages We know that not all of our members are interested in the same subjects, so we are offering an option to become a member without a model, so that if the model being offered doesn’t have much interest, then no problem, the Airfix Club is the right option. Airfix Club Membership This option comes without the kit, and will include a Welcome Pack, which as you can see from above contains an impressive Keep Calm poster, an Airfix Club Trolley coin and the Airfix Club Flying Hours passport. Flying hours can be collected from most Airfix Kits, and then traded in for more kits! All you do is collect the tokens, fill in the back of your passport with your preferred kits and send it in. All of this comes packed neatly in an Airfix Club box, unique to members only. The cost of this option is: RRP UK £14.99 RRP International £34.99 Airfix Club PLUS Membership This option comes with everything you see in the image above, including the Club Exclusive Kit which is a remarkable Surrender/Evaluation Kate. The cost of this option is: RRP UK £24.99 RRP International £39.99 The above isn’t all you get, both Memberships include many benefits, and if at a later date members decide they do in fact want the exclusive kit they simply log into the Club Members Area and place an order (as long as there is stock). There are lots of Airfix related products also available to Club Members at discounted prices. This includes several Airfix tins and tubs, and some very iconic Airfix prints. This range will keep on growing, so we suggest you keep checking the Airfix Club page to see any updates. And not forgetting our exclusive Club magazine, with members receiving three editions a year. Members will also receive a calendar at the beginning of the year. What is not to love? These packs are ready for dispatch, and our Customer Services team are eagerly waiting to get these orders and get the packs sent out. We now had a credit card style membership, which will be sent out separately within 28 days of signing up. Be one of the ‘first 1000’ And finally, one last bonus. If you are one of the first 1000 members who join the Airfix 2020 Club, then you will receive a printed copy of the Complete Airfix artist and kit list (6th Edition). This has been compiled by a very good friend of ours, and the master of all Airfix knowledge Jeremy Brook. Airfix are very grateful for all of Jeremy’s continued assistance.

Hi everyone, After a long break from the hobby i've started back up. Purchased an airbrush and had a long spending spree on eBay. To start myself off easily I thought i'd begin with the Airfix RAF Refuelling Set. I bought an old set on eBay and thought i'd attempt to salvage it (or ruin it knowing me!) As you can see it's quite an old kit so i'm expecting to come across a few broken or missing parts Quick brush paint of the cabs interior and glue it together. Decided to leave the doors open so that i can use it for more varied displays The first problem. A drive shaft missing, barely noticeable when fully built but still annoying. More photos to follow as i make more progress next weekend and my adaptor for my airbrush is delivered. If anyone has any advice then please feel free to share. I'm not sure what colour scheme to use for this set, I know the one shown with the kit is a post war colour scheme. Thanks! Tigers

I'm slowly moving back through the years. This is a kit I first built in the summer of 1982 (memories of the World Cup in Spain!), doubtless with the proceeds of my first summer job. The Airfix DHC Beaver was another kit I clearly remember from that time. Both kits have been favourites of mine ever since, but I've not yet managed to get another kit of the Beaver. I picked up the Skyray again second-hand in 2015, and have been waiting ever since for a good time to build it. This kit must have been bought c. 1976/1977, as it has "new" on the box cover: The Skyray was first issued in 1976 1977. The kit I built in 1982 had modified artwork, and I suspect was in a slightly larger box. It's not included on Scalemates, but it did exist! Here's my own scan of that - spot all the differences: The box contents appear identical, save that the original issue kit includes a stand. I will be building this kit "wheels up", because (a) the kit supports this option, and (b) it supports - and includes - a stand. I have two of the excellent Tamiya kit, but that can only be built "wheels down" out of the box. I'll probably go with the USMC subject on the cover. And I'll be using the pilot. No painting instructions are included for the pilot figure, but that's easy to figure out. I should get started this evening. The long-term weather forecast for this week is very good, so I may not be going at full tilt on this. On the other hand, it's a very well engineered kit, so assembly should be relatively straightforward.

While I'm still workiing on my DH.88 Comet, this GB is too important to miss. I'll be using the Airfix 1/48 Hurricane Mk.I Tropical, A05129, as the basis with the RF-F V6684 markings from Techmod Hawker Hurricane Mk.I, 48025.

So I decided to go big or go home this time. like many of you back in the day these larger kits were birthdays or Christmas presents. I love the 4 engine bomber kits as their size alone made them really impressive, especially hung from the ceiling fighting off hoards of Messerschmitts! The B-24 was always the ugly sister to the B-17 and was a less rugged aircraft. This rather elderly Airfix kit has all the old school moving parts and suffers accordingly fit wise. Despite all that I will give it a good shot. It's not too often you see a bomber with a shark mouth after all ! Tfl Greg

Strolling to my local grocery (back when one could do such a thing) I spotted this Airfix kit in the window of a charity shop Very basic kit (from the panel line treatment and few parts I’m guessing this will be one of their older moulds but for £5 who’s complaining?) - squirrelled away waiting for a day when I felt like something straightforward. Faced with my stash yesterday and in the mood for a no hassle, quiet day at the bench and remembering that this GB was still on I pulled this (& a Novo Sea Hawk) out. I figured that between them they probably had fewer parts than a modern Airfix starter kit so doing them in parallel was almost like doing one kit Box innards suggest that getting two kits from the stash was a good idea. Not many parts at all Still, it looks vaguely Spitfirey and cost nowt As this is looking a lot like a bank holiday blitz build I felt I needed to include a snack picture so broke off for a few moments to bake some chocolate chip cookies Once the cookies were dealt with I had most of a plane with all the major bits stuck together When I left it yesterday evening I had gotten as far as having the underside painted and a coat of grey on the upper

Hi guys, I will be building the Airfix 1/48 Buccaneer in Royal Navy colors. There will be some extra decals for it from Xtra decals and a few foto etch sets plus 2 resin bangseats from Neomega and some resin intakes. I will put on some pictures at a later date. Cheers,

It's summer 1966 and the World Cup is on. However, unlike the majority of the UK we Scots kids are not that interested as we weren't there. I was on holiday with my Uncle Tom and Aunt Rose at their house on the Ayrshire coast as it always was when we were young the weather was good, sunny and dry. Between swimming in the open air swimming pool, kicking a ball around with my cousin and wandering long and wide around the beaches, town and fields my Aunt Rose bought me a model kit and my choice was the Scout. I made it in a few days and in those days Airfix were decent enough to mould itin Dark Green so painting was minimal and most of the transfers were applied to the plastic. I have three of here in the stash, I got them to convert into Wasps but have never got that far yet. It's a relatively recent boxing as one of the sets of markings is for an 1996 Scout at Middle Wallop while the other option is the same as originally back in '66 a Scout of the Royal Jordanian Police.

The Battlle of Britain was, when I was a kid, already something mythological. These brave men, with the magnificent Spitfires and Hurricanes, who defended the last free place in Europe against the Nazi war machine. Growing older, I realised how much human effort went in to this battle. Reading more about the men, you come to understand that with this great victory and the magnificent machines, the toll on them was immense. I want to honour those men (in my own humble way) by building an Airfix Spitfire, but as a part of a diorama. I am fascinated by the photos of waiting pilots, ready to scramble. So, to complement the Spit, I'll try to build a small vignette of airmen waiting for the scramble to sound. I might fail in this, but I hope it will be a small reminder of the Few, of which so many ow so much. Next post I hope to add some pictures, still working out that since the Photobucket-disaster...

New tool 1/48th DH.82a Tiger Moth kit - ref. A04104 Release expected in May December 2019 February 2020. Source: https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/shop/new-for-2019/tiger-moth-1-48.html V.P.

Following on from my 1:72 Airfix Handley Page Victor, my next build is Airfix's 1:72 Avro Vulcan B Mk2. This is XH558, and the Vulcan to the sky gift set. Truth be told I have built this kit before, it was my first ever build and started me on my fantastic journey of model aircraft building. The Vulcan is my favourite aircraft of all time, hence the reason I was given the kit as a gift the first time. Because I have past experience with this kit (albeit novice at the time), I can remember how ill fitting the wings are, how much flash there is and all its many other challenges..... But I can't wait to start. This won't be a straight from the box build, as I intend to finish her in the anti-flash paintwork she left the factory in (my previous Vulcan is in full XH558 camo). To complete the paintwork I have purchased a set of decals suitable for the Cold War paint scheme. Aside from the scheme, the only changes I shall be making are the use of Vallejo acrylics in place of the suggested Humbrol. This is just personal preference and I find them much smoother to airbrush. So lets look inside the box. There is a very limited set of instructions, the original paint scheme diagram, and a tiny decal sheet. 4 grey sprues, with varying amounts of flash and raised panel lines. And one small clear sprue. Thats about ot for now, I have given the huge sprues a wash and sprayed a coat of Vallejo primer on the limited interior pieces. Looking forward to starting once the primer is dry.

Every second post I see on social media at the moment seems to be modelling related, lockdown must be doing wonders for the modelling trade! I'm lucky enough to be able to work at home, so don't have endless days to fill. However, still feeling the other to get something else on the go after finishing my Phantom a few weeks back. I won an Airfix Vampire at a raffle held at once of the Sywell Aviation Museum's talks over the winter. Since it was free, thought I'd splash a bit of cash on it. Got myself the Xtradecal Vampire part 1 sheet and a set of Pavla resin bang seats. First foray into resin extras, I think it'll certainly test my painting skills! Haven't actually started yet, hopefully putting this up will give me that little push... Obligatory box artwork shot (although there can't be many on here that haven't seen one of these!) The Pavla seats. Look pretty good to my (untrained) eye. Presume I have to shave off the big block of resin at the bottom.. And the decals. I had originally thought of going with the Shawbury ATC school markings as the nose at Sywell is in that scheme. However, I'm currently favouring the Leuchars Station Flight machine with the 43 and 151 sqn marks. It'll go nicely with my 43 sqn Phantom. Also means I don't have to get involved in painting that awful dayglo orange again! That's about it for now. Helping my son with an A-4 he got for Christmas in an attempt to inspire him and give him something to do other than stare at screens, so progress may well be slow. Cheers! Al

After a long absence from the hobby I built an Airfix Spitfire Mk Ia. I enjoyed it so much I decided to build another similar Airfix Kit; The P-40B starter set A55101. This is a desert camouflage aircraft flown by Neville Duke of 112 Squadron in Libya 1941. It started nicely. A dry fit of the wings to the fuselage showed that everything fitted together really well with almost no fettling required. I fitted the wings and cockpit. So far, so good….. After I’d painted the cockpit side walls I glued the fuselage halves together with Tamiya Extra Thin adhesive. Just to be sure, I clamped them with some clothes pegs and let things set overnight. The next morning, Aaaaargh!!!! The glue had softened the plastic, the pegs had squashed the joint and the fuselage was now about a millimetre too narrow! I taped the top/front fuselage on one side and it massively overlapped with the other side, there were huge gaps at the wing roots and because I’d closed a small gap on the pilot’s rear bulkhead the canopy was now too wide! What to do? Do I:- a) Write it off, bin it and start another of my 292 unbuilt kits? Yes, really, I have a spread sheet you know. b) Buy another Airfix P-40 and use the fuselage from that? c) Split the fuselage with a razor saw and try to pack it out to the correct width with plasticard and glue it more gently this time? d) Give up and go to the pub? Rats! Can’t do that. Wretched Covid-19! What I have learned:- Don’t get cocky after a successful build and rush things without thinking. Tamiya cement is fierce! Don’t use pegs to grip things when they fit very nicely without persuasion. Aaaaand relax…………..

Ready for inspection is my Airfix 1:72 Handley Page Victor. This is a straight from the box build, using Vallejo acrylics in place of the suggested Humbrol. The kit is fantastic to build, fits together smoothly, and has a lovely amount of detailing. This has to be one of my favourite builds. Thanks for looking.