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Airfix is to release in Spring 2025 a 1/48th Supermarine Spitfire Tr.9 kit - ref. A05143 Sources: https://uk.airfix.com/products/supermarine-spitfire-tr9-a05143 https://www.facebook.com/officialairfix/posts/pfbid025p67UbcHsaGw31NDoe757dbq3zNoCCjaBeD3xiQDTzuaV8uEVZgyzCLcr7R7SJg5l Introducing the NEW MOULD 1:48 scale Supermarine Spitfire Tr.9! Arguably the most famous fighting aeroplane in history, with over 20,000 aircraft eventually produced, the Spitfire Tr.9 is a two-seater trainer aircraft. This highly detailed kit includes: • 128 parts • Two scheme options • Unique subject not previously available in injection moulded kit form • Fine rivet detail and slide moulded engine cowling • Specific post-war wing parts • Both canopies can be posed closed or open to reveal the detail in both cockpits • Decal options for an Irish Air Corps Spitfire Tr.9 and a famous post-war camouflage scheme Test build Schemes V.P.

Westland Lysander Mk.I/Mk.III (A07116) 1:48 Airfix The Lysander was designed in response to a 1934 requirement from the British Air Ministry for a Liaison and cooperation aircraft for the Army, supplanting the obsolete Hawker Hector in the role, an aircraft that had nowhere near the reputation as the Lysander would go on to earn. Three companies were given the opportunity to submit proposals, with Westland invited late to the party, almost as an afterthought. Westland’s designer was relatively inexperienced, so took the precaution of canvassing the opinions of the pilots that would eventually fly the aircraft, which paid dividends when it came to the competition. The design was advanced for its time, despite having a fabric wing and rear fuselage, using metals where they would benefit performance, and reverting to wooden parts where practical, which saved weight and made for a resilient airframe. Its aerodynamic design was so effective that it had an incredibly low stall-speed of only 65mph that allowed it to take-off and land in extraordinarily small spaces, using rough fields that would have destroyed more dainty aircraft. The flaps and slats were independent and would deploy automatically as conditions dictated, often resulting in asymmetric deployment under many circumstances, simplifying the process of controlling low-speed handling, thereby reducing pilot workload at critical moments. In 1938 the first airframes reached service in their original cooperation role, and by the time war broke out, most Mk.Is had been replaced by the more advanced Mk.IIs that substituted the Bristol Mercury engine with a slightly more powerful Bristol Perseus XII. During the invasion of France, Lysanders were on the front-line, their slow speed making tempting targets for German fighters and anti-aircraft gunners, which caused heavy losses that mounted to 118 of the 175 aircraft that had been sent to France and Belgium, leading to its withdrawal from service in its original role. With invasion of Britain looking increasingly likely, the Lysander was to be tasked with patrolling the coast, attacking the enemy with guns and light bombs should they be encountered, to the extent that a prototype was engineered with a large Delanne four-gun turret replacing the rear fuselage, bracketed by a pair of large rudders that formed a H-tail akin to that of a Lancaster. Designated P.12, and sometimes known as the Wendover, it was intended to be a beach-strafer, but was more likely to kill the enemy by asphyxiation through laughing at its ungainly design. Fortunately for all, its services and those of its sister project nicknamed the “Pregnant Guppy” were never called upon. By 1941 a new lease of life for the Lizzie had been envisaged, engaging in covert duties behind enemy lines, dropping off and picking up special operations operatives and equipment on missions for the Special Operations Executive (SOE), painting them matt black in an attempt to hide from the enemy when over their territory. They were very successful in this role, although casualties weren’t uncommon due to the nature of their duties, with a similar situation overseas in Burma where Lysanders were also used. Some aircraft were converted to target tug duties, seeing them painted in bright schemes to ensure they didn’t become an inadvertent target of the trainees, rather than the drogue they were towing. In total, almost 1,800 airframes were produced encompassing all variants including the Mk.III that saw the engine reverting back to a later variant of the Mercury, seeing service with the Free French, Canadians and other countries, followed by some civilian operations after the war. The Kit A brand-new tooling from Airfix that was announced late in 2024 to a great deal of excitement from modellers in 1:48 and anyone with an interest in WWII British aviation, myself included. I’ve always had a soft-spot for the Lizzie since my father built an old Keil-Kraft Lysander from balsa and doped tissue paper in my youth, so I was amongst those folks that were most excited. Now it is here as Airfix’s first major release of 2025 at the start of a promising modelling year for most of us, unless your modelling desires drift too far from the beaten path. The kit arrives in a large top-opening box in Airfix’s traditional red-theme, although the logo is still the old 3D variant that has just been replaced with a simplified rendition. The box art is up to Airfix’s usual high standard showing a Lizzie ascending into a darkening sky, possibly on the way to bomb something, but without a gunner visible in the rear seat to crew the Vickers K gun. Inside are five sprues in dark grey styrene, plus another relatively large sprue in clear. The decals are slipped inside the instruction booklet that is printed on A4 paper in spot colour, with another folded sheet of glossy A3 paper having the painting and decaling instructions printed in full colour. Detail is rather good, with a part-count of 171 offering plenty of options, while the exterior is covered with finely engraved panel lines, raised and recessed fasteners, and a subtly scalloped surface in between the ribs on the fabric-covered wings and aft fuselage. A pair of crew figures with separate arms and heads are also to be found on the sprues, which is good to see, as they will be easy to place in realistic poses, rather than the traditional hands-on-lap of yore, which weren’t particularly convincing in an in-flight model unless they had psycho-kinetic powers! The designer(s) have clearly gone to a great deal of trouble to make a highly-detailed kit for us all to play with. Construction begins unusually with a fuel tank that is situated between the crew members, and is a key structure in the cockpit. It is made from five parts plus a feeder tube, and has a frame applied to its vertical rear, mating it with the cockpit floor that extends to the rear of the fuselage, with framework moulded-in. Detail painting of the moulded-in details is called out while fitting the gunner’s round seat on an L-shaped bracket that fixes to the frame at the rear of the tank. The port side frame has additional parts glued on, with two decals applied to the side around the controls, fitting that frame first, then adding two cross-braces, and the upper frame of the aft fuselage that requires removal of two lugs at the very rear on the underside of the balance-weight compartment floor. The starboard frame is also detailed and has more decals applied around controls, with another lug removed from the rear of an instrument panel before it is glued to the fuselage assembly, which allows the map table to be fixed over the fuel tank with a choice of map decal, plus a diagonal cross-brace behind the pilot, and the rudder pedals, fitting a square sill to the cockpit opening, which has more decals applied. A pair of stacked balance-weights are fitted into the small compartment under the tail fin, which sometimes also carried a manual starter handle, which you could scratch-build from wire if you feel the urge. The pilot’s seat can be built either for installing a pilot or to portray an empty cockpit, using the seat back without belts for the former, and an alternative part with belts moulded-in for the empty option. A pair of arms are fitted to the sides of the seat, using an alternative part for a dropped arm on the port side to accommodate the pilot. Your chosen seat is inserted into the cockpit tub, showing its correct orientation in two scrap diagrams with the seat highlighted in red. A circular firewall bulkhead is fixed to the front of the fuselage frame, optionally attaching a circular palette of Vickers gun magazines moulded as a single part to the rear, which must have a pair of lugs removed from their underside to ensure a good fit, then mounting a shallow rear deck over the top with a circular winder glued into a recess. The other fitting for decal option B leaves the magazines on the sprues, and instead has a deck with raised rear and separate sides installed instead. The pilot’s control column is detail-painted and installed in front of the seat, building the instrument panel from two parts plus a decal to depict the dials, mounting it in front of the pilot on the side frames. The fuselage halves are prepared by adding inserts near the front of the cockpit sides, painting the interior as instructed, and if you have chosen decal option A, removing a small triangular section of the gunner’s sill, as indicated in green. Decal option B has a small flashed-over hole drilled out from inside at a 50° angle, inserting the almost complete interior into the port side, which locates on three guides moulded into the fuselage, bringing the starboard fuselage half in to close the model, adding a nose insert in front of the pilot, a belly insert with the inner faces of the gear legs moulded-in underneath, plus the appropriate insert under the rear, depending on your decal choice. The outer faces of the gear legs are applied over the inners, then the elevators are each made from two halves, with the option of fitting them in the fuselage either configured for flight, or for take-off and landing, for which they are angled up at the rear, inserting the rectangular tabs and gluing them according to the scrap diagrams that advise the location for glue in yellow. The rudder is another two-part assembly that slots into the rear of the fin, and can be deflected if you wish. You have another choice when it comes to the landing gear spats, which depends on your decal choice, as you’d probably have guessed. For decal choice A there are no weapons mounts, first cutting out a nick in the leading edge of the spat outer face, then closing the two halves around a liner, and inserting a landing light into the recess in the nose. The nick is a guide for drilling out the machine gun hole with a 1mm bit, following the instructions to achieve the correct angle, and paying attention to the scrap view from the front. For option B, the same process is carried out, replacing the outer skin with a different part that has a recess for the weapons winglet moulded into the side, which are both single parts. Your chosen gear option is glued to the upper portion of the struts, building the wheels from two-part tyres and adding hubs to both sides, choosing a different hub part for option B, installing them on the hubs, and enclosing them with covers for option A, which also has a lens applied over the landing light recess. The tail-wheel consists of a simple strut with a wheel fitted to the axle, which is inserted into a recess in the underside of the fuselage at the rear. Moving back inside the cockpit, a ring sight is mounted on the tubular coaming, building the pilot from integrated torso and legs, plus separate arms, head, and parachute pack under his rear, taking care to align his hands with the controls as best you can for added realism. A scrap diagram assists with this, marking the figure out in red. The gunner offers a choice between options A and B. Gunner A has a single Vickers Gun, and has different arms to glue onto the torso part, remembering to add his head, and align his hands with the controls of his weapons, so you may wish to build those first. The Vickers Gun has a barrel moulded into the breech, adding a plate-magazine to the top and a brass-catcher with dump-bag to the right side, then mounting it with a single part that attaches to the deck at the rear of his compartment. The twin Browning .303s for option B are glued together, with a towel-rail handle fitted over the top, and a curving twin ammo-feed that is flex-fitted to the forward part of the breech, attaching it to the model via the same mount as the Vickers Gun uses for the closed-cockpit option. Two additional diagrams show the position of the guns when not in use and with the canopy closed, which is shown in blue with a ghost of the weapons visible through the plexiglass. The glazing of the canopy offers the open or closed choice for both the A and B options, using shortened side panels for the open options, the part numbers of which differ between variants. The windscreen is common between both decal options, as is the styrene wing root spar that rests on top of the side panels and interior framework. The gunner’s canopy has four parts for open and closed A and B options to allow it to slide back over the fuselage, using the same top panel for the pilot’s canopy either closed over his location or slid back over the fixed top section that has a small part glued inside. The pilot’s side windows drop down inside the fuselage, so aren’t required if you intend to leave them open. A small glazed panel is inserted on either side of the tail root, presumably to allow the quick checking of the ballast weights before take-off, avoiding any unpleasant handling characteristics once mobile. Lizzie had odd-shaped wings that are moulded as two parts per wing, drilling out a flashed-over hole on the upper half for antennae for option B. The two halves are glued together, adding slats to the leading-edge, plus flaps and ailerons to the trailing edges, utilising two different parts if you intend to show the slats deployed. Clear wingtip lights are inserted, which have recesses inside to allow painting of the appropriately coloured bulb, fitting a choice of pitot probes to the starboard wing. The wing supports are V-shaped, and mate with the undersides of the wings in deep recesses, after which they can be installed on the root spar, locating the tip of the V in another recess in the upper landing gear fairing. When the glue is cured, clear inserts are fitted in a small gap at the root of the wing, drilling a 0.7mm hole in the port side, using a 1:1 template that is printed on the relevant instruction step for option B. As the Lysander wasn’t intended to be a glider, the engine is made next, starting with front of the cylinders that have push-rods and bell-housing attached to the front, trapping the prop-axle in place without glue, then fitting the rear of engine after removing a lug that is marked in green, inserting a pair of intake trumpets in slots in the rear of the engine, as shown in the accompanying diagram. The exhaust collector ring fairing has a 1mm hole drilled in one side from within, a technique suggested in a scrap diagram, then fitting an insert in a recess moulded into it, sliding the collector ring inside, lining up with the insert fitted earlier. The insert also lines up with the engine as it is brought in, enclosing the assembly in three cowling segments that have bulged fairings moulded into their outer skin, choosing open or closed cooling gills by selecting the appropriate part. A two-part exhaust and auxiliary intake are fitted into recesses on the exterior of the cowling, finishing it by adding the bead-sight with a V-shaped support in the 12 O’clock position. The engine and cowling are then glued to the model on a keyed peg, fitting the three-bladed prop and separate spinner to the front of the aircraft, which if you’ve been careful/lucky with the glue, should remain mobile. Option B is armed with a quantity of small bombs, with a choice of four single-part small bombs in the recess under the tail, two larger two-part bombs with separate mounting rails under the winglets, or two palettes that each contain four of the smaller bombs as an alternative. A long tube is glued under the belly, its location confirmed by two additional scrap diagrams, then several short antennae are dotted around the airframe depending on which decal option you have chosen, one of which is mounted in the hole drilled in the wing root glazing earlier. Option B also has a Camera Gun Type G-22 (D57) mounted over the wing, a part that was identified for me by @hwallen1410 who knows things. The last steps of the instructions show the installation one of the two rear gun options for an open cockpit, using a different mount from that used for the closed canopy option, with extra diagrams showing their orientation from a side view. Markings There are two options in this initial boxing, each one covered by a full side of A3 in full colour. They both wear the same green/brown camouflage on the upper surfaces, option B having a sky underside, while A has wrap-around camo on the fuselage, with black/white wings that were used as identification markings during the early days of WWII. From the box you can build one of the following: Lysander Mk.I, No.16 Sqn., RAF Old Sarum, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, 1938-9 Lysander Mk.III, No.309 Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Sqn., RAF Renfrew, Glasgow, Scotland, 1940 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 Awesome. It’s all I can do to not break out the glue and paint right now. Detail is excellent, as are the many options throughout the build. Make your decal choice early and mark the options you’ll use to avoid confusion, and you’ll build a great-looking model of this much-loved iconic aircraft that performed a valuable job through WWII. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

My first entry to the GB will be this beauty. I think I have only built one boat prior to this and that was the Airfix 1/72 Motor Torpedo Boat in the early Eighties. Will certainly add a bit of colour to the display cabinet when finished! Sprue shots, etc to follow. George

Expected in Spring (May ?) 2024 - ref. A06023 - Boeing Chinook HC.1 Source: https://uk.airfix.com/products/boeing-chinook-hc1-a06023 V.P.

Here we go again, my friends. First some history. On the night of 2nd May 1945 Bomber Command performed their last raid of the Second World War, against Kiel and the surrounding area. Included in the operation were twelve Mosquito B.XVI aircraft of 608 Squadron and it is generally accepted that the last aircraft to bomb was PF505, 6T-D, flown by the CO of 608, W/Cdr Gray, with Capt Mehre as navigator and bomb-aimer. But the aircraft that interests me more is Mosquito EV347, 6T-A, flown by F/Lt Hobbs with P/O Dennis. Facing no lesser dangers than any other crew that night they carried their 4000lb bomb all the way to Kiel, only to have the release mechanism hang up. Apparently unknowingly, they then flew all the way home and landed safely with the fully armed weapon still on board. No mean feat and, in my mind at least, that means they had The Last Cookie Left in the Jar. So, in honour of all unsung heroes everywhere, let us begin.

Complete surprise. They've come up with a Me.410. https://uk.airfix.com/products/messerschmitt-me410a-1-a04066 https://uk.airfix.com/community/blog-and-news/workbench/scale-modelworld-exclusive-new-airfix-messerschmitt-me-410-hornisse-takes-flight

Chinook HC.1 (for Airfix) 1:72 Eduard Last year saw Airfix re-tool their 1:72 Chinook kit in the HC.1 guise, and we’re due a later boxing in summer of 2025 according to the new catalogue that arrived a few days ago as I type this. Eduard's new range of sets are here to improve on the kit detail in the usual modular manner. Get what you want for the areas you want to be more of a focal point. As usual with Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE) and Mask sets, they arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between. Upgrade Set (73831) Two frets are included, one nickel-plated and pre-painted, the other in bare brass, plus a small sheet of acetate with two circular windows printed on it. A complete set of new layered instrument panels plus added levers for other controls; a roof skin added to the entire length; seat belts for the two flight crew; equipment and avionics on both sides of the cockpit bulkhead; a curved panel with overhead panel is fitted at the juncture between the windscreen and the front engine cowling halves, adding a new window interior with film glazing on one side. The crew entrance on the side of the fuselage is replaced with a more detailed set of PE parts, starting with the exterior skin that is folded and curved to match the profile of the kit part, adding an internal skin and three detail parts, then fitting it in the roof above the door, making the lower portion of the door from a folded part that is also curved to match the shape of the fuselage, adding a locking mechanism and step, then filling two grooves moulded into the bottom of the door frame, replacing the hinges with new PE parts and a pull-handle, all of which is best fitted after main painting is over. The rear cargo ramp is also detailed, fitting PE strips around the edges, and covering the three vehicle ramps with skins, all adding extra detail to the area. Moving outside, the engines have two-part engine rear faces inside the cowling halves, making an exhaust to the rear after rolling it into a tapering cone with the same profile at the front as the engine cowling, times two. The two intake filters from the kit are used, but are covered by new mesh panels that are more realistic than the styrene rendering. The last few parts are brake callipers for the inner hubs of the landing gear, plus a small tapering skin that details the fuselage behind the rear gear legs. Zoom! Set (SS831) This set contains a reduced subset of the interior, namely the pre-painted parts that are used to improve on the main aspects of the cockpit, as seen above. Whatever your motivations for wanting this set, it provides a welcome boost to detail, without being concerned with the structural elements. SPACE Cockpit Set (3DL72043) The Eduard SPACE sets use new 3D printing techniques that lay down successive layers of different colour resin, creating highly realistic almost full complete panels that are supplied on a decal sheet. They can depict metallic shades, plus glossy, satin and matt colours too, which really ups the detail on everything they print. In addition, a small sheet of nickel-plated and pre-painted PE is included for the aspects of the set that lend themselves better to this medium, such as seatbelts and rudder pedals. The centre console in the cockpit has its detail removed and replaced by a new decal, adding PE pedals to the front of the floor, then applying more decals to both sides of the cockpit bulkhead to improve on the simple panels and missing details. The main instrument panel is sanded smooth and has the detail replaced by a new decal, adding another to represent the overhead console in the roof at the front of the engine cowling above the cockpit. The two crew seats are fitted with a set of four-point PE harnesses that drape over the back and sides of their seats. Cargo Seatbelts STEEL (73833) These belts are Photo-Etch (PE) steel, and because of their strength they can be etched from thinner material, which improves realism and flexibility in one sitting. Coupled with the new painting method that adds perceived extra depth to the buckles and other furniture by shading, they are more realistic looking and will drape better than regular brass PE. Whether you have elected to use the pre-painted PE seat parts that are available in another set or not, this set of sixteen sets of lap belts for each side of the cargo compartment, each seat having two belts, offering the potential to arrange them in a haphazard manner, akin to what would happen whether passengers un-buckled and embarked on a dangerous mission, or a much-needed trip to the canteen afterwards. Review sample courtesy of

Hello Here is my finished 1/72 Airfix Chinook HC.1. I chose to make Bravo November as this is a very iconic British Chinook. I remember well the time of the Falklands "special operation". The kit is easy to assemble and I added just a few things like a roof above the cargo inside, the electric leads of the winch and the antennae in front of the cockpit. Actually this is my third H-47/Chinook as in the past I built a U.S. MH-47E and a Libyan CH-47D, both of them were the Italeri kit which is less detailed. Patrick

So the clue is in the title. What if the Daring class Destroyers were modernised in the 1960's? What I am planning on doing is based on this Shipbucket drawing I am using the 1961 Airfix kit which means it's slightly younger than me I have ordered a Starling Models HMS Devonshire upgrade set to provide a lot of the necessary parts that will be replaced. I also have some etched brass from Atlantic Models for a few other items and there will be some scratch-building as well. The idea being that I have about eleven months to finish this so I can take it to Telford, well there's nothing like a target to aim for, if it's realistic or not we shall see Later: Because the back end is based on the Leander fit I was thinking of using the rear two-thirds of a Leander deck on top of the rear of the Daring. But as I am going to be scratch-building most of the superstructure I may as well scratch the Limbo well, just as I am doing in my Leander builds. I shall use one of my as-yet unbuilt Leanders as a guide for the scratch building. One question I will have to think about now rather than later is the viewing windows for the VDS which are in the room in the Port Rear of the ship, with one window to aft and another looking back up towards the winch for the VDS. The question is do I do the same for this build or move the windows to Starboard? Gondor

Airfix is to release in Summer 2025 a 1/72nd Westland Wessex HC.2 kit - ref. A04068 Source: https://uk.airfix.com/products/westland-wessex-hc2-a04068 Schemes V.P.

I was delighted when the 1/48 Airfix Gannet was announced and immediately acquired one. The AS1 and AS4 versions in the standard colour schemes didn't appeal so I decided to convert my build into a COD in the later RAF Blue Grey scheme. The conversion would entail no great changes with the removal of the rear cockpit equipment and a few minor alterations to the observers cockpit. The underbelly radome would have to be removed and I new I could fashion some underwing pylons and stores. I had previously bought some after market replacement decals. The attached photos show the final result with a couple of the build. I write this a few days after Airfix have announced the release of their COD variant..... GREAT! Just as a post script, I have to say what a superb kit Airfix have produced and I'm sure the new release COD variant will be equally well received. Thanks for looking. Ian

So, after finishing a jet, it's time for a prop. If Scalemates is right (and it usually is), this is the 1984 box. A second-hand one that the original owner has already carved out the raised panel lines and put in recessed and came with a canopy mask, some 3D IP and a Airwaves PE set. Which was nice... So, without further ado. I was 13 when this was released. Cockpit base. No fancy cagework in this kit! PE is a godsend over the kit. (You don't even get an IP decal in the kit!) That's all for the moment.

After pretty much avoiding building weapons since February 2022, I picked this kit up at Telford from Jadlam’s bargain pile. It all went together easily and fairly quickly given that modelling time has been restricted by other issues just recently. The decals were beautiful though the rear stripes didn’t seem long enough for the “conical” shape of the rear fuselage so ended up a bit far back. And the pilot appears to have been running the Griffon very rich, judging by the exhaust stains! I took these photos outside for better light. Hmm, I like an overcast day to get a more even lighting but this is ridiculous. Oh well, at least it’s not raining! Cheers Will

My first entry for this GB will be the Airfix McLaren 765LT Starter Set. Having built the other kits in the series I can say that these are nice little kits with a fair amount of detail. Upon opening the box I realised that the brake discs had been painted and the axles glued to the floorpan but it's still within the 25% allowed. P1070671 by timothy jones, on Flickr P1070672 by timothy jones, on Flickr P1070670 by timothy jones, on Flickr P1070673 by timothy jones, on Flickr

Hi All, Now, what is it I enjoy doing again? Oh yes, modelling WWII aircraft! For the last 5 months I've been on a bit of a treadmill with a commission maritime project. With the future of the rest of the project a little uncertain, I've decided to take a bit of a break from it and revert to that which gives me joy. I have been following along with @Heather Kay's wonderful Manchester build, and it inspired me to have a go at a 3D printed conversion kit for the Airfix Lancaster (A08013A for those of you wondering) to see how well I can integrate with the original kit parts, rather than cutting and shutting as is the norm with conversion kits (although Heather has made a great silk purse from what appears to be a bit of a sow's ear). To that end, I've got one of these winging its way from t'internet: My plan is to design and 3D print as follows: - Complete new wings & flap assemblies at the 90' wingspan - Vulture engines, integrating the kit undercarriage into the nacelles - New tail assembly (not sure yet whether to model the vertical stabiliser with the smaller vertical rudders, or use the kit parts for a later model) - Remodel the interior, including provision for the second pilot position - Vacuum form new dorsal turret and nose blister using 3D printed bucks - Maybe model the ventral turret, depending on the aircraft I choose - Lots of other things which I have yet to get my head around I suspect that some aftermarket parts may also find their way into this build - a mask set at the bare minimum! This is a bit of a placeholder as I have no doubt it will be a long-term endeavour. I may also kick off a couple of mojo-restoring builds too, but it's good to be back in the kingdom of wingy things! Thanks for looking, Roger

Hil all, it's been a good while since I posted anything here, so I'd like to share one project from 2024 that I'm most proud of. Airfix's 2010s era He111 is was what you Brits might call a curate's egg. Some aspects are excellent. There are great interior details, things scale out just right, and the complex curves of the wings and canopy are captured perfectly. The engineering of the complex landing gear is done very cleverly, and I like that Airfix gives you the option to open the unique vertical bomb bay (curiously, there are no bombs provided). On the other hand, fit was a little tricky in places, and I used more filler than I have on other Airfix models from the period. I had a very hard time fitting the four piece glass nose, but I think much of that was due to user error. My advice is to glue the three main pieces together BEFORE you add them to the fuselage. The fit of the lower wings and flaps was also tight, and the fit of the side windows was extremely tight side windows didn't fit at all without major shaving. What really surprised me was the low quality of the decals. Airfix has established a track record of supplying excellent decals printed by Cartograph. Indeed, the box side says Cartograph. But these have a thick flat finish, and were a little stiffer than any Cartograph decals I used before. They reminded me more of old Italeri decals. They also had very poor adhesion, and some of the smaller stencils fell off after they had dried. I hope I just got a bad batch, because this was totally uncharacteristic. As for the build. It went quickly. I think I finished the model in about three weeks, which is very fast for me. Despite some of the fit issues, the kit is designed to be quickly assembled. I added some paper belts, and replaced the stick-like Airfix MGs, with the somewhat overscaled, but more MG-ie looking guns from the old Italeri heinkel. I also used a set of resin wheels I had laying around. The model was painted with Mr. Color RLM 65, 70, and 71. I also applied several shades of green, brown, and drab colored oil paint filters (basically dirty thinner), to shift the colors and add some tonal variety. The exhaust stains are Tamiya smoke. I lightened the greens just a touch in an effort to achieve the look of an airplane under sunny skies, and I didn't want the model to turn into a heinkel-shaped black hole on my display shelves, with the two very dark greens. These might look too bright for some color purists, but I think they make the model visually more interesting. Alse the colors have a lot less contrast when not under my bright photography lights. So there we have it. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this one a 6. The fit issues were one thing, but the poor decals really brought this one down by one or two points.

Airfix is to release in 2014 a variant from the new 1/72nd "fabric wings" Hurricane (ref.A02067), a Hawker Hurricane Mk.I "metal covered wings" under ref. A01010. A fabric wings in the illustrations/box arts??? Displayed as ????? Error? Source: http://www.airfix.com/shop/new-for-2014/172-scale-military-aircraft/a01010-hawker-hurricane-mki-172/ But also as stater set (fabric or metal covered wings Hurricane?) Ref. A55111 Source: http://www.airfix.com/shop/new-for-2014/172-scale-military-aircraft/a55111-hawker-hurricane-mki-starter-set-172/ V.P

As promised in the chat thread, joining with this recent Airfix kit. Receipt says that it cost me £9.89, on 19 Oct 2023. Airfix's description of what it is and does. A look at the instructions. And colours for the English Channel crossing in June 1959. I'll post a photo of the parts on 11 Jan. See you then.

Expected in Spring (May ?) 2024 - ref. A09010 - Consolidated B-24H Liberator https://uk.airfix.com/products/consolidated-b-24h-liberator-a09010 V.P.

https://uk.airfix.com/products/westland-navy-lynx-mk88ahma8mk90b-a10107a V.P.

Hi everyone, I was unable to finish my Spitfire Mk Vb on time in the Classic Airfix GB. It is unfortunately a frequent occurrence. No panic: the build has just moved into the KUTA. This Spitfire will be finished in 2024, so no pressure. I have just painted the cockpit framing with the inside cockpit color. The primer is next. I will post some photos tomorrow. Cheers JR

Airfix Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I - ref.A05126 Sources: http://www.airfix.com/catalog/product/view/id/8404/category/1213/ http://www.primeportal.net/models/thomas_voigt9/airfix/index.php?Page=3 V.P.

New airfix kit in progres is a 1/72nd Fokker E.II/E.III Eindecker Source: http://www.airfix.com/uk-en/news/workbench/workbench-behind-the-scenes-at-airfix/ V.P.

Airfix is to release in 2014 new tool 1/72nd Bristol Blenheim Mk.I & Mk.IV kits. Ref. A04016 - Bristol Blenheim Mk.I Bomber Source: http://www.airfix.com/shop/new-for-2014/172-scale-military-aircraft/a04016-bristol-blenheim-mki-bomber-172/ Ref. A04017 - Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV Fighter Source: http://www.airfix.com/shop/new-for-2014/172-scale-military-aircraft/a04017-bristol-blenheim-mkiv-fighter-172/ V.P.

Airfix 2025 - catalogue & programme Source: https://uk.airfix.com/new V.P.