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Vickers Vanguard - finally Ready for Inspection This post is intended to illustrate the completion of an Airfix 1/144 Vickers Vanguard, built as a gift for a on friend whose next birthday is approaching, who had often remarked about his love of the aircraft type and his desire to one day own a model of one. Having started aircraft modelling again just a few years ago, I’d kept this in the back of my mind and last year undertook more of an active search for a more recent re-boxing of this 1962-tool based model. I managed to pick up an example of the 2015 rebox that had the right transfers, in the middle of last year and having cleared the decks of other projects, started it in September last year. The kit by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr I compiled a WIP thread for the build that covered the stages of working this model to produce something that I hoped would be reasonably respectable at the end, so I’ll not repeat any of the build details here. However, in summary, I rescribed the fuselage and parts of the wings; made a rudimentary cockpit with seats, IP and console and rear bulkhead from scratch; added a floor section and further bulkhead at aft of front cabin, and added ballast to the entire forward underfloor area; used clear epoxy for the cabin windows; cut off the cockpit crown to allow the poorly fitting windscreen to be better fitted and the crown reapplied after, sanding everything smooth afterwards; removed the outer nacelle bulges and made intakes from scratch; removed an awful lot of flash; spent many hours cleaning up parts to aid fit. Paint was primarily Tamiya, but with some Ammo Mig one shot primer followed by A-Stand Black base (which I now can’t get any more of despite having some on backorder now for three months and having just had another order cancelled on me), with A-stand polished aluminium and chrome for the wing leading edges, props and nacelles. Red was Insignia Red from Mission Models. Mig Ammo metallic acrylic brushed for landing gear legs and wheels, with a drop of Molotow chrome for the gear leg oleos where these are visible. Aqua Gloss was used to seal everything. I used Thunderbird vinyl masks which were very thick and didn’t conform well to curved surfaces (windscreen) but were all I could find for this model; they were good enough. Decals were from the kit, but I painted the main black markings. Shape wise, I added the small radome on the nose, providing a slightly more Vanguard like and less Nimrod-like profile for the model. The base was described in the WIP thread… suffice to say, it looks ok to plant the finished model on not that it’s complete. Photos to follow (a bit of a mixed bag of photos from a few sessions with the camera and trying out different backgrounds and editing techniques) Vanguard RFI #15 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Vanguard RFI #17 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Vanguard RFI #18 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Vanguard RFI #16 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Vanguard RFI #13 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Vanguard RFI #14 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Viscount RFI #5 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Viscount RFI #12 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Viscount RFI #7 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Viscount RFI #9 by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Undersides by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr and a cruel cockpit close-up. You really can only just see the seats and console in there, but at least it's not an empty void. Vanguard cockpit by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Thanks for reading/looking. Jonathan

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

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

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.

An Airfix Vanguard This is an aircraft that I’d always had in the back of my mind to do a model of one day because it is my friend’s favourite aeroplane. Many years ago (when I used to do that sort of thing) I did a fine art pencil drawing of one in the very early BEA scheme. That drawing still hangs framed in his house and a RFI post on this forum encouraged me to go and see if the old Airfix kit was available anywhere so that I could build him one. The thread, by ‘Strangeways’ is here And the brief notes that were made about the build gave me a few points to consider for mine. One of these was using clear epoxy resin for the cabin windows. More research found this further thread by ‘SuperTom’ that I read with interest, bookmarking it to come back to when I’d found a kit After much (I’ll admit, quite half hearted) searching, whilst more actively searching for other stuff (as we tend to do), I found a ‘newish boxed’ version for a reasonable fee on an auction site and acquired this. The kit by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Whilst the box was probably less than 10 years old, and therefore the transfers were ok, the same could not be said for the rest of the contents, which, although bagged, contained far more plastic than I’d expected. Whilst the kit has been reboxed and given new decals over the years, I suspect the molds may well have been original (or nearly) and date from its origins in 1962. I found raised panel lines (expected) and more flash than I’d ever seen in a kit. I forgot to photograph the fuselage and wings (the worst elements) as I set about trying to clean them up a bit almost immediately, noticing that these alos had a few chunks taken out of them where they’d been torn at some point off their sprues… but I remembered to take a photo of this sprue which was by far the best of the bunch, but some flash is still evident. Cleaning up would be the order of the day for this build. A sprue example with flash by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Fuselage So… all in all, some work would be needed. A look at the clear parts revealed that they were all there, but that some work may be needed, or an alternative approach sought (as mentioned previously). Initially, I decided to close the main doors to keep it all cleaner, and these needed padding out a bit to give a more-flush finish with the fuselage skin. Padding out the main doors by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr In order to provide some secure space for ballast and to give a more secure ‘fit’ of the two halves, I added a new bulkead to the rear of the cockpit and a floor that would later allow a little bit of cockpit detail to be scratch built for. The cabin would remain blank, but I didn’t expect the cabin windows to be too transparent once finished. New bulkhead and floors by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Floor and bulkheads by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr With the halves taped up, I tried a test fit of the windscreen. Not good. I tried some cleaning up and further test fits but eventually gave up. I recalled the comment in ‘Strangeways’ post about removing the crown so opted to look into this late on. Test fit poor windscreen fit by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Rescribing. Ok, this is probably my least favourite part of any build or preparation and this needed a lot. Rescribing begins by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr This is my main scribing tool, a HIQParts 0.004 tool, and I use plenty of dymo tape. Good old dymo tape by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr An application of Tamiya panel liner shows all evils and mistakes afterwards. I’ll be rubbing most of this smooth at the end as airliners rarely show panel lines except when dirty or on an aged bare metal finish and this will have neither… but it serves to get most of it right to begin with. Not perfect but.... by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Back inside the fuselage, I boxed up one half of the lower bays using plasticard and sprue goo to seal everything in; the basic seats and instrument panel/console are evident here. Cockpit seats and panels and ballast bays by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr And then I took the fuselage and placed it on to an artists canvas board that I picked up from Lidl, which will make an ideal slightly textured base once this is finished. Artist board for base size check by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Resin windows. So, per the previously mentioned threads, I bought this stuff and thought I’d give it a go What I used by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr By following the instructions and mixing up far more than I needed (I need to learn here) I taped up the outside of the fuselage halves (covering the outer of the windows using a PVC tape that was quiet smooth, and gently poured some of the resin in to the halves from the inside. I used a cocktail stick to try to rid it of all the small bubbles and got most (but a few appeared during curing annoyingly on the outside of the windows so will be filled with something like gluenglaze at the end of the build. Once this was done, I put the two parts aside on a dust free covered shelf for 48 hours to cure. Clear epoxy resin poured and cured by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Once dry, I pulled the tape from the outside and cleaned off any tape glue residue and was quite pleased to see a relatively flush set of windows that would sand and polish up quiet well. Flush windows by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Holding the two joined halves up to the light, a suitable amount of transparency was evident, but not too much. Transparent enough by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Having let this settle, I painted the interior parts a few shades of dark grey and black to just tone it all down, and added a few little paint marks to the instrument console that might be visible through the windscreen later. I then taped the halves together, put a a little glue on the two parts of the crown and then taped over this to mark a cut line to remove the crown. Masking for a cut by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr I cut through this using a razor saw and then set about padding out the rear part of windscreen aperture a little aith plasticard. The cut by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Some fettling followed and I added a little plasticard along the cut face to pad it back out again… evident in later photos. I then glued the bulkheads and floors and added a great deal of liquid gravity (delux lead balls) sealed with rocket hot CA glue, and let to dry. I was not going to allow this to be a tail sitter. Bulkheads glued in and ballast added. by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr To check balance, I took the wings and horizontal stabilisers off their sprues, taped the halves together and popped them in their slots (after cleaning up the slots that were full of flash). This would represent most of the additional weight of the kit (apart from paint and glue) and I could then check the CofG pivot point. I balanced the model on the tin section of some tweezers moving it fore and aft until it balanced. This was just forward of the wing leading edge, about 2 to 2.5cm forward of the main gear, so it should sit fine. At this point, you’ll also note that I decided to add thin plasticard strips along each side of the fuselage to represent the strengthening plates on the airframe. I thought that this may be better than my poorly executed engraving and once sanded back to a very thin profile, wouldn’t be too bad… hopefully under some paint it’ll look fine. Balance check by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr I glued the fuselage halves together with some Mig Ammo night blue thin cement. I started at the nose, applied the glue liberally allowing it to work into the seam and applied pressure and then taped it. I did this to resolve the slight warp in the two halves. Once the front was cured, I applied more glue to fuselage behind the cockpit and along the top and bottom, squeezing applying tape and slowly working all the way aft to the tail and cone. Once dry, the tape was removed and the security of the joint checked – all good. Fuselage halves glued by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr I then set about sanding these joints to remove further flash and secure a good rounded surface. Holes in the upper surfaces were filled with some delux putty and smoothed whilst curing. And filled and sanded by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr The windscreen and crown were then taped in place and then glued in with Tamiya thin. Their fit wasn’t brilliant; I had to pad out the join between the crown and the windscreen with some plasticard, and I did try to smooth out some blemishes on the inside of the windscreen before fitting, but they were mostly inside the material. Hopefully they’ll not show too much at the end of the build. Adding the windscreen and crown by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Not a bad fit but sanding needed. by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Once the parts were dry, I set about some fairly crude re-shaping, starting with a 200 grade standing stick to start to get the shape to what it should be. Coarse sanding by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Some finer sanding then followed (400 grade sanding stick, then 600 grade) slowly improving the shape and smoothing the surface. Finer sanding by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Then I moved on to a 1000 grade sanding stick, then a 1000 grade sanding sponge, then 1500 and 2500 grade sponges, slowly improving the smoothness of the plastic and glazing as it went. Smoothing off by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr Further sanding with the 2500 grade sponges, then 4000 and 8000, then some micromesh and then just the sponge side of the sanding sponges… followed by some Tamiya polishing compounds (coarse and fine) produced a relatively smooth and shiny surface which will suffice for now. The result of more smoothing and polishing by Jonathan Hughes, on Flickr This has ‘rounded’ the screens off a bit but I’ve found a set of masks that I’ll carefully add later which will hopefully help redefine the screens with some paint. That’s the hope anyway. This is going to be a generally simple build but hopefully the result will be ok in the end. But yes, my build never end up being simple. Thanks for reading. Jonathan.

Ex Foil, June 1949. Yes, I know the Hornet only is Hornet-ish....but does ok for this composition. Decals for 247 sqn codes and serials from spares box and my printer, first experience of printing. 41 Sqn crest adapted from spitfire 24 80 Sqn one with white decal and red decal bits. Letters codes mix of Fantasy Printshop and spares.

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.

Notwithstanding the fact that I'm building (or butchering should I say?) a couple of Hurricanes, I could not resist starting this new work. First of all I have to say thank you to two benefactors who supported me with a lot of material for this conversion work. Thank you gentlemen (you know who you are!). Last week I was evaluating what will I build with these new assets and now I have a plan. I would like to model a Seafire Mk.46: although a rare bird, I think it is so beautiful with its low-back, huge fin, and contra-prop... I would also like to model a Pr. Mk XIX because I rate it the most elegant Spitfire ever. But first of all I want to model a Mk XII. Some people like this variant the most among the Griffon-engined ones; I like better the long-nose (more appropiately the two-stage-compressor-engined) ones but this variant has a particular charm in being a sort of a "hybrid", being a "rare bird" and even for its war record being employed as a stop-gap against the Fw-190 low-raiders and V1 missiles... ...Thinking about it I feel the same fascination for the very early F Mk.IX which had a similar origin and operational history, or the Mk. VI and VII. There's no perfect Mk.XII kit on the market (that I'm aware of, at least) so add the fashion of a modelling challenge to the above mentioned reasons to build one! Publicly available documents about this variant seem scarce and photo coverage is not abundant too. There are no preserved original Mk.XIIs, and the closest relatives available today as a reference are Seafire Mk XVs which are quite different in many detail. The general shape of the aircraft is well undestood but there are differences in detail between the early-build airframes and later ones; moreover Mk XII has some peculiar elements like the carburettor intake and the magneto hump which are unique in the Spitfire lineage. Fortunately the few existing photographs show rather well these particulars and allow for an accurate reconstruction. Here is the recipe I have in mind for the ultimate 1/72 Mk.XII: Base kit: Eduard Engine cowling and propeller blades: modified Airfix Mk.22 Spinner: modified Airfix Underwing oil radiator: Tamiya or Sword Scale plans: Jumpei Tenma's A lot of work, a little scratch-building The base kit is well known; Eduard's 1/72 Spitfire is a scaled down version of Eduard's 1/48 Spitfire which in turn is a scaled down version of .....(it can't be said openly) which is a 1/32 reproduction of a full-size Spitfire. All of the main features are dimensionally very very close to the data reported in the monumental "Spitfire engineered" book by Montforton; it is the only real "Spitfire looking" 1/72 Spitfire model I'm aware of, together with Airfix Mk.22 incidentally. That 2012 kit still has the best Griffon nose ever produced in 1/72 and is the perfect donor for a conversion work, as many modellers before me discovered. To be honest, both Airfix Mk.22 and Airfix Pr.Mk XIX have a correctly-shaped engine cowling; both kits have small defects in the shape of the cylinder bank fairings: the Mk.22 has them too short at the back, Pr.Mk XIX has an incorrect shape in front (due to the simplified moulding process chosen by Airfix for this kit) AND too short fairings. Correcting the Mk.XIX cowling is much more difficult than adjusting the Mk.22's so the last is a better choice. When asserting that this is the best choice for a Griffon nose in 1/72 I mean the following verified facts: -the profile is accurate within 0,1-0,2mm (or can be easily done so after the careful removal of the moulding burrs) -the width in plan is accurate, and the cross section is just about right (I'll try to have a better look at this in the building process) -the position, shape and angle relative to the thrust line of the cylinder covers appear to be accurate (whitin my measurement capabilities) except for the length in the back. I checked also Sword and Special Hobby products but simply they are not accurate, in particular regarding the shape and position of the cylinder humps and exausts (Sword) or overall cowling shape (SH). The propeller is a very good base for the Mk.XII were not for the fact that it has five blades instead of four... The Spinner assembly results slightly excessive in length (0,4mm) and the baseplate has some peripheral burr so that its diameter is about 10,2mm instead of 9,9mm. This mismatch is easily addressed by some reshaping of the spinner assembly on a lathe. If normally I can't decide which livery put on a particular a/c variant the Mk.XII requires yet another choice from the beginning: fixed tailwheel or retractable tailwheel? I resolved my quandaries choosing the retractable tailwheel variant (although at this moment I've not choosen a particular a/c to represent) Let's begin. The Griffon cowling is separated from the fuselage and compared to a scaled down version of J.Tenma's plans of the Seafire Mk.XVII (he did not trace plans for the Mk.XII or Mk.XV although you can find colorized profiles for them in his website) If your printer does allow just integer percentage scaling of the original (like mine), you can get perfect results by scaling with Inkscape, Photoshop or similar software. Please notice in the photograph above how well the Airfix nose matches the profile; it can be further improved by gentle bending of the upper arch, but this is not necessary for the Mk.XII because of the magneto bulb in that position. The cut is refined until reaching the perfect size, and the process is repeated for the other side. According to this quoted drawing for the Seafire Mk.XV (which is supposedly based on Supermarine data and matches J.T. plans), the "measurable" (I mean with a caliper) lenght of the section is calculated with some easy math: from fuselage datum point to the front of the cowling, at propeller axis: 76,2 inches from fuselage datum point to the upper cowling panel line: 1,28" (source "Spitfire engineered") the front cowling section is a disk, reportedly 28" diameter, inclined 2° to the cowling panel line. This adds 14" x tan(2°) =0,49" to the measurable length so: measurable lenght= 76,2"-1,28"+0,49"=75,41" which in 1/72 converts to 26,60 mm. My result is pretty good!...and was obtained matching the plans, and taking some progressive measurement of the part. One of the key points in getting a precise cut is adjusting the final tenths of mm with the right tool. I use 400-grit sandpaper glued to the side of a square aluminum block, and lay both the nose part and the aluminum block on the same plane, so that the sandpaper results perpendicular to it. Both halves are finished. And now... there's no return! Two perfectly good Eduard Spitfire Mk.VIII fuselages are horribly mutilated!

Probably pushing my luck a bit, but I have realised that the ancient tin of Precision "Doped Natural Fabric" that I like is on its last legs and needs using before it dries out. One of the gaps in my WWI collection for many years is the BE.2c, and so when Airfix announced one in 2016 I pre-ordered it and here it is. I realised from the box art that at one of the versions provided was a single seat anti Zeppelin fighter with a Lewis gun, but did not realise that the second version included was also a single seater, this time with Le Prieur rockets. Both of these are entirely valid as the BE.2 and later BE.12 were widely used by home defence squadrons against airships with considerable success initially, but I wanted one of the original recce and artillery spotting versions from mid 1915 to mid 1916 which Airfix eventually released in the second boxing together with a rather gaudily decorated trainer, so I will be making one or two changes to the build. I made a start on it once it arrived, and got the fuselage together, and then for some reason, possibly a hospital visit for an operation that went a bit wrong, put it back in the box and forgot about it until now, when I went into my stash for subjects for this GB. Given the way Airfix have engineered the cabane struts and the fact that they provide alignment jigs for the interplane struts, if I don't make a mess of it, the top wing should go on fairly quickly, but as ever time will tell.🤞 Pete

Airfix 1/144 Kit with New ware detail Set & New Ware Launch Pad, Apollo CSM replacement kit from the Model Bunker shop, plus 3d printed thrust structures & J2 engines. A few scratch additions here and there, and an absolute must have- Rick Sternbach’s superb set of Ultimate decals.

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

My first build of 2025. An unexpected and welcome Christmas gift. Built OOB with just a touch of licence applied in placing of decals and some laziness in not using all of the stencil markings.. Fit of parts was universally excellent. Finished with Tamiya acrylics. I enjoyed the build and I'm very pleased with the result ! I should mention that I used around 70g of 'liquid gravity' to avoid having a tail sitter.

At Wingleader have been purchasing original photo collections for over thirty years, which helps us produce this outstanding series of books. Which RAF aircraft appears the most in these collections, the Vickers Wellington is a clear winner. Every collection seems to have hundreds of them! Of course, it was a very advanced and photogenic aircraft for its time, (replacing the antiquated Heyford and other biplanes), and it entered service just as the Press took a renewed interest in the Armed Forces as the country prepared for war. Another important factor is that the Wellington was the third most produced RAF aircraft in history, with nearly 11,500 examples being built. With all this in mind, we decided to give the old Wimpy the coverage it deserves, so this first book just covers the very early examples, the Mk.I and Mk.Ia, with plenty more to follow! As usual, we asked our Bomber Command expert Peter Allam to take on this classic bomber and he has done a cracking job on uncovering some fine details and quirks of these early Mks, including the ‘SCI’ and ‘DWI’ ops. We hope you enjoy this one and keep space on your shelves for a few more Wimpy books to come! Check it out at www.wingleader.co.uk Wellington MkI/IA (WPA35)

Something a little different for me. Not the subject, just that it's not Groupbuild related. This is the new Airfix 1/48 Lysander. To be honest, when I first heard about this release I was a little bit meh.But the more I got to hear about it the more excited I became. It's a big box! It barely fits in my photocube. But it is jammed full of plastic. There is a Brimodeller review of this kit, from which the following sprue shots are taken.

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

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

Hello all. I started this model in the recent Classic Airfix Group Build. I managed to get quite a bit done making the odd adjustment and correction here, adding etch there and so on, but I didn't quite manage to get is across the line. The thread is here if you missed it but want to catch up: When the Group Build finished, I was advised to complete the build in the WIP section of Maritime, and being a good boy, I followed instructions, and the rest of the project is here: It is now complete, and this is what I ended up with: I had loads of fun with this, despite the issues (mainly self-made) that I encountered. Thanks for looking, Ray

Before XM607 became famous by bombing the runway at Port Stanley on the Black Buck missions she was flown to the US on the Red Flag 77, were she had a middle stone/dark earth underside paint scheme. Unfortunately this was unsuccessful as the pilots reported they couldn't really hide the Vulcan massive shadow when flying over the Arizona dessert at 500 feet above ground level so they were authorized to fly as low as 300 feet agl. Due to waiting for a new nozzle for my airbrush (coming from Germany) and after speaking with Tom Probert at the last club meet I decide I would finally start the Vulcan that been sat in the stash for nearly 2 and 1/2 years, I'd already goth old of the Kits World decals which has the right sqn and serial number marking (I think you can model any B2 variant) to do the Red Flag 77 scheme when I received the kit. Must say I'm impressed how quickly such a large amount of plastic can go together My intent is to position the nose up 20-30 degrees as if on climb after take off so I built a plastic block and drilled through a 10mm hole for the acrylic rod and then used another block to prevent the rod from rotating. Its a bit rough but I made it oversize so I can file to fit inside the bomb bay. Next thing to do is find a lump of real wood for the base, don't want MDF this time.

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

iBristol Bloodhound (A02309V) 1:76 Airfix Vintage Classics Following the cancellation of an earlier Ramjet-powered Surface-to-Air missile project by the name of Blue Envoy, due it seems to the 1957 Defence White Paper by the now-infamous Duncan Sandys, a shorter-range project was considered to pick-off the remaining enemy bombers that made it past the English Electric Lightnings that were responsible for point-defence of the Great British airspace. The fact that the Blue Envoy project had been progressing well, with successful trials of a scale-version of the missile, caused some scratching of heads, but the new Bloodhound missile benefitted from its technology, giving it a head start on its development path. Much of those technology benefits were incorporated into the Mark.II Bloodhound, extending its range to almost double that of the Mk.I. When launched, the missile accelerated incredibly quickly thanks to the four booster rockets that were ejected after only three seconds, by which time it would be travelling at an ear-popping 1,800mph, with attendant sonic boom in addition to the roar of the rockets and ramjets, making hearing defence an absolute necessity. It homed in on its target using a combination of semi-active radar and powerful computing capability (for the day) that gave it a high level of resistance to electronic countermeasures, and allowed it to accurately track low altitude targets, making it a lethal opponent for the expected waves of lumbering Soviet bombers and their escorts in the days before ICBMs took over the role of delivering nuclear weapons. It remained in service with the British and Swedes until the 90s due to its abilities, and Britain took their Bloodhounds out of service when the Berlin wall came down, while the Swedes kept theirs until just before the new millennium. The Bloodhounds first paired with the Thunderbird shorter range missile and then the Rapier that covered the required defensive envelope between them. The smaller missiles could also be transported comparatively easily, while the Bloodhound was of a size that lent itself to fixed installation, often around strategic areas such as airfields. The Swedish Bloodhounds were converted to be vehicle transportable, and a possible future development of the missile was to introduce this facility wholesale to the Mk.IV, while the Mk.III was to be nuclear tipped with a longer range that would presumably be used to thin the bomber stream over the sea, hopefully keeping any fall-out away from the land. Both those variants weren’t completed however. The Kit This kit was first released in 1960 when the missile itself was still new. It has been reboxed several times since then, and up until the announcement of its long-overdue re-release, it was achieving eye-watering prices on a certain auction site. It’s amazing how some people are prepared to throw money at something if they want it badly enough. Now that it is back in Airfix’s catalogue under the Vintage Classics line, there will be a few people feeling a little silly, but the rest of us will just be glad to see it again, and pleased that the moulds are still in good condition. I built one myself as a nipper, and remember it fondly. Where my kit went though, I have no idea. The kit arrives in a diminutive red-themed top-opening box, and inside are six sprues of various sizes in the new darker grey styrene that Airfix have been using, which has been well-received. There are no decals, but there is a Land Rover with missile trailer, and a set of figures to guard the emplacement, including a dog that one of the chaps has on an invisible lead. Detail on the missile is good, and once the seams are dealt with, it should look suitably sleek. The trailer is a nice inclusion, as is the Landy, but if you want to give it an improved look, you might consider adding some clear acetate windscreens, a bulkhead and a couple of seats for the crew, or at least the impression of those things. There are of course some ejector-pin marks here and there, most annoyingly on the canvas roof of the Land Rover, which will make careful removal and making good very important. There is surprisingly little flash too, most of it around the sprue runners and the figures, which should be quick enough to remove with the edge of a sharp blade and some fine sanding. Construction begins with the missile, joining the main halves that includes the two Bristol Thor ramjet engines, then adding delta-shaped steering fins forward and square fins to the rear, plus the support structure for the temporary boosters in the form of a cruciform part at the rear of the missile. Each Gosling booster rocket is made from two halves, one of which has the fin moulded-in, and once complete the quartet are joined to the main body on lugs near the front fins, and at the rear on the four points of the cross. In action, the rockets were hooked to a ring fore and aft, and once their thrust became less than the ramjets, they would slide backwards, opening like a set of petals before falling away. That’s the missile finished. The Land Rover is next, building the canvas-topped bodywork onto a flat-bottomed floor, adding the windscreen, bonnet and radiator assembly to the front, plus two axles that thread through holes in the arches, to be finished by adding wheels to each end of the axles. A scrap diagram shows that if you leave the glue off, the wheels should rotate. At the back of the vehicle a bulkhead with a notch for the towing hitch closes the rear. The launch platform has several parts left unglued to allow it to be moved, based upon a flat turntable, which is joined to the floor by a styrene pin that joins them together and allows them to rotate. The side walls trap the launch rails and their supports into position, adding extra supports as the parts are joined together, and finally a stopper pin that plugs into the back of the missile so it stays in position. The last main assembly is the trailer, the chassis made from two halves that trap the tread-plated floor in position, adding twin wheels into the rear arches on both sides, another frame is glued to the trailer’s gooseneck, and twin supports are added fore and aft. The front wheels are based on a pivoting platform secured in position by another styrene pin, adding two stub axles beneath that have more pins to hold the wheels in place, and an A-frame with towing eye on the front. There are five human figures and a dog on the sprues, although you only use three of them according to the instructions. One is an officer waving while a ‘Snowdrop’ RAF MP stands to attention, and a dog-handler should be linked to the dog via a fine wire so it doesn’t bite anyone. The other two dog-handlers don’t have a dog to handle, but you could adapt them to other poses if you feel the urge. Markings As already mentioned, there is only one colour scheme depicted, which consists of a white missile with yellow boosters, green launch platform and trailer, and an RAF blue Land Rover. Other schemes were used, so check your reference if you feel like a change. Conclusion A great many modellers have been waiting for this kit to come back in stock, and unlike those with bottomless pockets, we appreciate the reasonable price that it is now being offered at. Most of us won’t notice the slight difference in scale from the usual 1:72, and if you give it some care and attention, you should end up with a creditable replica of this Cold War Warrior. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

My second build for this GB will be the Airfix starter kit Mustang IV I started this one in the Mustang STGB earlier in the year, but installing a new kitchen seriously changed my prioritys for a couple of months. I much prefer making models then installing kitchens i have realised! Not made much progress apart from getting the interior done and then joining the fuselage and wings together. As previously mentioned, it will probably be a few weeks before i get back onto this one, but it will definately be getting finished this time. George

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.

Hi everyone, I stood in front of my shelf for a while, scratching my head, thinking about what to build next. I wanted to do something quick and merry, so I could show something off on the site. 😊 In the end I went with the 1/72 Supermarine Swift from Airfix. Although as it turns out it is neither quick, nor merry, it is still very entertaining and keeps me on my toes. I started the build with the cockpit. It was a bit of a challenge to have everything line up perfectly, but I think once you get the hang of it, it goes together well. The next step was the jet intake. I decided to glue the two halves in at this stage so after giving a couple of coats with a Tamiya White Primer rattle can, I could mask the intakes easier. After adding the exhaust and the clear parts for the photo equipment, I glued the two halves together. It needed some convincing here and there, but nothing majorly disruptive. I dry fitted the wings next. I have to say, this kit has some of the best fitting wing roots I have ever seen - although admittedly, I do not have 100s of models under my belt like some of you here. It was at this point when I realised that I forgot to put the weight in the nose. Just one of those senior moments I am afraid... Luckily, there is plenty of space for weights behind the cockpit so I bluetacked and superglued five steel bearing balls just to be on the safe side. It also gives some substance to the model. Makes it feel more serious in the hand. 😉 After that, the wings went on, and some filler was applied to the top of the fuselage. It was a pretty neat fit everywhere else. This is where I left it getting close to midnight. It is a shame that work gets in the way on weekdays, but I will try and post some updates soon.

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

de Havilland Chipmunk T.10/T.20 (A04105A) 1:48 Airfix The Chipmunk was the first fully Canadian aircraft from De Havilland of Canada that entered service just after WWII, and was used by many air forces as a trainer in the post WWII years, often replacing the biplane Tiger Moth. The RAF trainers were manufactured by D.H. in the UK, serving with the RAF until 1996 when the last of them were withdrawn from service, and there are a lot of pilots that learned to fly during that period who hold the little aircraft in high regard, having taken their first tentative and hopeful steps into the sky at the controls of a Chippie. Its calm and reliable flight manners made it an ideal trainer, and its more modern construction using a large proportion of metal parts with only partial fabric covering to the wings, gave it a more modern feel that was suitable for the absolute beginner, or ‘ab initio’ pilot, as they are sometimes referred to. Canada continued to use the Chipmunk as trainer until the early 70s, and a surprisingly large list of operators have used them over the years, including such varied powers as Egypt, Ghana and Lebanon. It is estimated that around 500 are still airworthy today, most in private hands. The Kit The Chipmunk is a 2021 tool by Airfix that has been reboxed with new decal options depicting other operators. It arrives in a small top-opening box in Airfix’s usual red theme, with three sprues in dark grey styrene, a clear sprue, decal sheet and instruction booklet with colour profiles on the rear pages. The Chippie’s exterior is covered either with flush panels, raised-rivet panels or doped fabric over the metal ribbing of the structure, and all of these surfaces are depicted well here, even down to the raised rivets, which are thankfully positioned on the leading edges of the wings where they should survive seam sanding. Construction begins with the cockpit, with two bucket seats that have a diagonal surround with the seat itself recessed in a concave shape behind it. The front seat’s recess is a separate part that is glued in behind the panel, with a moulded-in coaming behind the seat, and optional seat cushions for a restored example. The rear seat is a single part that also has an optional cushion. The cockpit floor forms a shallow trough with ribbing in the bottom, and it requires two holes per pilot to be drilled through for an instrument on the floor and the control column, then the seats are both placed behind the controls, slotting into place on twin tabs. The cockpit is set to the side while the interior of the fuselage is prepared, mostly by painting the ribbed sides, adding a few small holes for the tail strakes if necessary, and a pair of stencil decals on the cockpit sidewalls to finish off. The cockpit can then be installed in the port side, and a pair of additional controls are fixed to the exposed side of the cockpit. With the addition of a small circular bulkhead under the tail, the fuselage can be closed and glued along with a bulkhead and tank at the front of the cockpit aperture, which also has some ancillary detail picked out in different colours. This model includes a rendition of the DHC Gypsy Major 4-cylinder engine that has about the same output as an average modern car. The first act is to put the remainder of the cowling in front of the nose on the fuselage, which has the long central section of the engine cowling projecting forward, with optional hinges glued underneath if you plan on opening the cowlings up to show off the engine. The cowling has a coaming and instrument panel for the front cockpit, which has a decal applied for the instruments, as does the rear panel, which also has a separate coaming and decal to finish it off. The engine is built up from two halves that trap a rotating axle between them, with input and output manifolds, the latter angling away from the bottom of the motor toward the underside of the cowling. A C-shaped panel covers the port side of the engine to finish it off, and the two engine mounts are fixed next after removing two moulding-assisting sprue sections from the rear, which you are shown exactly how to remove with the aid of scrap diagrams. The completed assembly is offered up to the bulkhead and locates on four holes that mate with the rear of the engine mounts, just like the real thing. The fixed lower and forward cowlings are glued in place, then you have the option of posing the side cowlings open or closed, which also have a small intake added to the top of the starboard piece. The lower wing is full span, and is strengthened by adding a short spar into the area between the main wheel sockets, with a small landing light inserted from within, just right of centre. The lower wing is then slotted into the gap in the lower fuselage leading edge first, locking two tabs in position within the root fairings and dropping the trailing edge into its matching socket. The upper wings have tabs on the root edge, and these should be glued in place to set up before you add the two separate ailerons, which also have tabs to locate them. Similarly, the lower elevator fins are full width with the root fairing moulded-in, and accepts the two top surfaces, locating with those new donut-shaped sockets that Airfix sometimes use. This slots into the front fairing on the fuselage under the fin, and is then joined by the rudder. The elevator strakes are slotted into their pre-drilled holes, and the elevator flying surfaces are attached to the trailing edge of the fins to complete that area. The Chipmunk’s fixed landing gear is simple, and has aerodynamic fairings moulded-in, with a slot for a clear landing light in the top of the port leg, and there are also a pair of unweighted legs with elongated oleo-scissors to posing your model in flight. The main wheels are each a single part, as is the tail wheel with its strut, which fixes to the small bulkhead at the rear of the fuselage. The prop is a simple two-blade affair, moulded as a single part with a spinner and back-plate to close it in, with a hole in the rear to fit onto the axle projecting from the engine. A pitot-probe and two aileron actuators are glued to the underside of the wings, finisheing off the airframe by installing the open cowlings if you have chosen those. The canopy is an inventive assembly, beginning with the installation of the windscreen with a t-shaped central rod glued to the inside, then a jig is used to attach the two side panels at the correct angles to the vertical so that they can be mated with the roof, rear panels, and a stiffening cross-brace at the rear. You are told in no uncertain terms not to glue the parts to the jig, but someone’s just bound to, so make sure it isn’t you. Before you glue the canopy in position, you have a choice of utilising the two identical pilot figures, which are a well-moulded, but with the usual hands-on-laps pose that I really wish we could move away from. Once that decision is made, your last choice is to pose the canopy open or closed, either of which options requires the addition of the small handles on the port side of the roof, sliding back if you wish to pose it open. Markings There are three options on the kit decal sheet with a choice of three operators from three nations, the Irish option a restored airframe with comfy cushions for the crew. From the box you can build one of the following: Chipmunk T.20 Irish Air Corps, Irish Historic Flight Chipmunk T.20 Portugese Air Force, Escola Militar Aeronáutica, Granja do Marquês, 1951 Chipmunk T.10 HRH Prince Charles’ Chipmunk, The Queen’s Flight, 1968 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 A happy re-release of a good kit from Airfix, with different operators, loads of surface detail such as the rivets, the little V-shaped zip-up inspection pockets under the wing and the fuel gauges on the wing tops. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of