Airfix nostalgia thread, post all your classic airfix builds here.

[Radpoe Spitfire]

On 20/11/2017 at 21:35, old thumper said:

I am currently in the process of moving my model collection into a modified summer house and will be taking the opportunity of photographing my collection of old Airfix kits that I began building around ten years ago when I returned to the hobby.

If anyone would like to add pictures of their own builds to this thread then please do.

Should anyone be interested in building classic Airfix kits of any type including aircraft, armour, ships, cars etc, then Airfix the Golden Years is waiting for you in the 2018  group build poll which is currently open until the end of this November.

 

The old Airfix B-24J Liberator kit.

 

 

 

My build is from a late boxing, unfortunately the Dragon and his Tail decal option has been removed from this kit.

 

 

 

 

 

The late 50's Mosquito kit, very inaccurate but full of retro character. This kit has some very dodgy painting instructions that include duck egg green for the undersides. Some may remember it from the Me-262 dogfight double. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Original Airfix Wildcat kit. This may have been the first Airfix kit I ever built so an old favorite of mine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Airfix Hellcat, for some reason I just like the look of this model.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The original Airfix Mustang from about 1956, Fools Paradise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The original Airfix Hurricane, again from the 1950's

 

 

 

 

 

 

The original Airfix Defiant, not sure how old but old, maybe 1960.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow - what a nostalgia throwback!! The box covers alone invoke so many fond memories. I love the point you made about the Mosquito/Me262 dogfight double as it was one of mine🖒

 

I was in the lucky position as a kid who lived in a village - our local news agent had a big stand of Airfix kits 😚, so when Saturday morning came  a trip down there was spent looking for anything new on the shelves and pocket money exchanged very quickly. 

 

Thank you for sharing🖒

 

One thing I like about these earlier kits is that the condition of the moulds are relatively new- and the kit is nice and sharp along the edges. Non of the flash  and over thick glazing you get from modern re issues of moulds that should have retired years ago.

 

[tonyot]

Great thread and some lovely models,.......here is one of mine,....built well over 10 years ago now,....the 1/24th scale Hurricane converted into a Sea Hurricane Mk.Ib with scratch built hook, catapult spools and pilots head rest, the DH Prop came from a Spitfire. As sual with my stuff, it was brush painted;

 

I`ve since learnt that the machine gun bay was silver, as was the interior framework in the cockpit!

 

Cheers,

          Tony

Edited November 21, 2017 by tonyot

[tonyot]

Without wishing to hog this excellent thread,.....here is another old Airfix kit,.....the Hampden, converted into a TB.Mk.I;

 

Cheers,

          Tony

[Eric Mc]

My 1973 vintage Airfix Spitfire Vb. The decals are from Xtradecal and represent one of the Spitfires flown by Brendan Finucane - 

 

[Eric Mc]

Just want to say that Hampden is simply stunning.

[Meatbox8]

On 21/11/2017 at 19:10, tonyot said:

Without wishing to hog this excellent thread,.....here is another old Airfix kit,.....the Hampden, converted into a TB.Mk.I;

 

 

Cheers,

          Tony

Great conversion work and painting on the Sea Hurricane.  I'm really impressed with the Hampden which looks like a state of the art kit.  My mum bought me this kit when I was off school (with mumps, I think) and I can still remember the armies of rivets it had.  I don't think I ever painted mine.  It was moulded on black plastic, which was good enough for me, so it was straight on to the transfers once I'd covered it in gluey fingerprints. 

[Meatbox8]

On 21/11/2017 at 19:38, Eric Mc said:

My 1973 vintage Airfix Spitfire Vb. The decals are from Xtradecal and represent one of the Spitfires flown by Brendan Finucane - 

 

 

Nice looking Spitfire.  I built a few of these myself over the years.  Still a really good kit in my opinion.

[Eric Mc]

The Airfix Spitfire Vb is a nice basic kit and very good for mojo restoration purposes. I've built it a few times now.

[old thumper]

4 hours ago, tonyot said:

Without wishing to hog this excellent thread,.....here is another old Airfix kit,.....the Hampden, converted into a TB.Mk.I;

 

Cheers,

          Tony

 Lovely Hampden. No chance of hogging the thread, the more pictures the better.

[TonyW]

Another couple from me...

 

A pair of P39's, both out the bag builds with the two decal options provided.

 

 

And a Whatiff F111, sold on ebay a few years back. Yet another sale I regret.

 

 

Tony.

[Ratch]

Another Airfix Classic

[TonyW]

Here's one of my favourite builds, the ancient Airfix Do217.

I know it's inaccurate, I know my colour scheme is a flight of fancy, the whole thing is very toy like, but there's something about this particular build that makes me smile.

 

 

[Troy Smith]

13 minutes ago, TonyW said:

I know my colour scheme is a flight of fancy

well,  it's not that far off,  the  box art is more so.... but before the late 60's the prevailing wisdom was all Luftwaffe day scheme was dark green/green topside, light blue underneath, and fighters had higher sides with some grey mottle. 

This was the work of Karl Ries

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/luftwaffe/annotated.html

Quote

The paint schemes of the Luftwaffe in World War II are a contentious topic and one which authors invariably remark upon in reconsidering their previous statements and assumptions. It first was considered by Karl Ries, whose initial volume, Markings and Camouflage Systems of Luftwaffe Aircraft in World War II, was published in 1963. A decade later, the topic was revisited by Kenneth Merrick in Luftwaffe Colors 1935-40, with two subsequent volumes by J. R. Smith and J. D. Gallaspy. In 1980, Merrick and Thomas H. Hitchcock updated this material in The Official Monogram Painting Guide to German Aircraft 1935-1945. Merrick's work would serve as the standard review of the subject for the next twenty years, until Luftwaffe Colours 1935-1945 was published by Michael Ullmann in 2002. Merrick and Kiroff then released their two-volume Luftwaffe Camouflage and Markings 1935-1945, published in 2004 and 2005. It was followed by a revised second edition of Ullmann's work in 2008. Regrettably, except for Ketley (2012), all of these books now are out of print.

I have the Ries books, part of an inherited collection.

For an idea of the "state of the art"  on Luftwaffe schemes the 60's era Aircraft in Profile series are a time capsule

all of them scanned here

http://www.boxartden.com/gallery/index.php/Profiles/Aircraft-Profiles/Germany/World-War-Two

 

A little off topic,  but a related aspect of some of the nostalgia going on here. 

 

And a lovely nostagia build @TonyW  really  well done.

 

[TonyW]

Thanks for the info, especially the Profile link. That one will come in very handy in the future.

 

Tony.,

[Ratch]

Airfix 1/12 Bentley 4.5 Ltr Supercharged 1930 (09398)

[polo1112]

This post really is getting more and more exciting.

I can remember my Dad building the Dornier 217 (I was 10 years old !)

And my brother, 2 years younger would not my father to install the mudguards on the Dornier, because he found

it was not cool or not realist. But I secretly did glue them at their place, and got a shouting both from my father and brother.

I was already more for the accurate model as for the aesthetic one.

Curious remembrance after 55 years but there are always things that you never will forget, do you?

 

[Ratch]

Airfix 1/12 Black Prince (M202F)

[Plasto]

Hey Ratch? You do realise OP was all about Airfix Aircraft....

[Ratch]

On ‎20‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 10:35 AM, old thumper said:

Should anyone be interested in building classic Airfix kits of any type including aircraft, armour, ships, cars etc

I read this as any classic Airfix kits - sorry I won't trouble you any more

[keefr22]

2 hours ago, TonyW said:

Here's one of my favourite builds, the ancient Airfix Do217.

 

That kit was one of my favourites (along with the Ju88) too when I was a kid (& they first came out!), maybe because I loved the light blue plastic they were moulded  in?! Anyway, I remember having so much fun building it, that even though I don't build Luftwaffe stuff anymore, I decided to buy the new mould Dornier when it came out a few years back. What a disappointment - all those detail parts, half of which wouldn't fit - no fun at all, nothing like the build it in an afternoon original...!!   

Keith

[old thumper]

4 hours ago, Plasto said:

Hey Ratch? You do realise OP was all about Airfix Aircraft....

 

Yes the original post was just aircraft, but as one conversation leads to another the original topic has widened.

I will go with the flow and remove aircraft from the title.

I was going to start separate topics for ships and armour but probably best to keep them all under the same roof.

 

It would be really nice if someone could post pictures of the old BSA and Ariel motorbikes. It would also be really nice to see some pictures of the cars again also, not just the Marina and Maxi etc but the old vintage ones as well.

Edited November 22, 2017 by old thumper

[old thumper]

4 hours ago, Ratch said:

I read this as any classic Airfix kits - sorry I won't trouble you any more

Please carry on posting any nostalgic Airfix pics you have. On reflection I should have included everything Airfix did in this thread.

[Plasto]

Problem is the thread is in the aircraft builds section.. Not an issue for me as it always nice to see old kits nicely done. But if you open the thread and hit ‘blue tits’ or ‘Anne Boleyn’ then you might get confused.....

[old thumper]

10 minutes ago, Plasto said:

Problem is the thread is in the aircraft builds section.. Not an issue for me as it always nice to see old kits nicely done. But if you open the thread and hit ‘blue tits’ or ‘Anne Boleyn’ then you might get confused.....

The trouble is there is no rfi for mixed genres and also it would be like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Edited November 22, 2017 by old thumper

[Plasto]

Yes I agree the set up is designed to be subject specific. 

 

I look forward to more windmills...

Edited November 22, 2017 by Plasto