Brandy Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Are there any decent Fairey Battle kits out there in 1:72? I've tried to find an MPM one, but they seem akin to hen's teeth...... Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Maas Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 I think that's the only one until the inevitable Airfix retool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalea Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 And if I recall the nose is too long and pointy. There is (was?) a resin replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galgos Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 One word: No. Max Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 If the good lord up above is a closet modeller, you just might be in luck at about 10:01 GMT today?? So fingers crossed and start praying like mad.. Cheers.. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Maas Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 (edited) 7 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said: If the good lord up above is a closet modeller, you just might be in luck at about 10:01 GMT today?? So fingers crossed and and start praying like mad.. Cheers.. Dave No new 1/72 tooling announcements at all, just the previously announced Welly and some tool/decal variants. Only new tooling announcement was the 1/48 Hunter (although there was an erroneous comment about a 1/48 Spit XIV in the original intro blurb, since edited and apologized for) Edited January 9, 2018 by Adam Maas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 I thought that it was tomorrow that Airfix are to announce, and today was Corgi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Maas Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 1 minute ago, Graham Boak said: I thought that it was tomorrow that Airfix are to announce, and today was Corgi? Nope, announcement went up at 10AM GMT today, as previously promised. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 16 hours ago, limeypilot said: Are there any decent Fairey Battle kits out there in 1:72? I've tried to find an MPM one, but they seem akin to hen's teeth...... Ian MPM did 3 variants of the Battle, Mk1, Trainer and Target Tug. The only other alternative is various issues of the Airfix kit (Bilek/SK). List here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Yes, but the man did ask for decent kits, which the Airfix isn't, really. Paul Lloyd, I believe, produce a set of drawings showing/arguing that the MPM kit was too long in the fuselage. I put a lot of effort into shortening an MPM kit before coming to the conclusion (as apparently everyone else had done before me) that he was wrong. if anyone remembers this, do they have any opinions either way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 39 minutes ago, Graham Boak said: Yes, but the man did ask for decent kits, which the Airfix isn't, really. Agreed Graham; and whilst the MPM kit has more detail and appears to be more accurate, it's no walk in the park building it either. I was merely pointing out that in 1/72nd scale, for an injection moulded kit, those are the only options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 2 hours ago, Dave Swindell said: Agreed Graham; and whilst the MPM kit has more detail and appears to be more accurate, it's no walk in the park building it either. I was merely pointing out that in 1/72nd scale, for an injection moulded kit, those are the only options. I think I recall Maintrack or Flightpath doing a resin fuselage for the 1/72 Airfix Battle, but it would be long OOP, I fear. I think I used to have it- will check my resin inventory when I get a chance....can't speak for the accuracy of the resin, though. Airfix would be remiss if they didn't do a new-tool in 1/72 as well as 1/48. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 You will also need replacement wings. The fuselage is the lesser problem, as I recall. One key problem with that vintage of MPM kits is that the person who decided to tool the interiors did not allow for the thickness of the fuselage halves. Correcting this is tedious. Whilst agreeing that a new 1/72 Battle from Airfix would be welcomed I'm not sure that it sits very high in Airfix's hit list, even before their current financial restrictions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalea Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Valiant wings did the replacement nose for the MPM kit. As to the accuracy of the resin, I do not know. Have never previously heard criticism of the wings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Not sure about the length of the fuselage, but the MPM Battle had a lot of issues (Many of which it shared with it's bigger brother, the Classic Airframes one). been a long time since I looked at one and tossed it to the back of the garage, but from memory the chord of the wing was wrong, along with the ange of the trailing edge. The nose was off as well, and whilst not as bad a s Airfix, the canopy was wrong too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 That's what I feared, thanks all. Maybe another massive correction build on the cards sometime then, if I can find decent plans. Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Scale Models International had what appeared to be quite decent plans sometime back in 70s or 80s, I'll look mine out & let you know which issue it was. I could scan them but I reckon the scanning & printing would be likely to introduce inaccuracies. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted January 10, 2018 Author Share Posted January 10, 2018 2 minutes ago, stevehnz said: Scale Models International had what appeared to be quite decent plans sometime back in 70s or 80s, I'll look mine out & let you know which issue it was. I could scan them but I reckon the scanning & printing would be likely to introduce inaccuracies. Steve. If you scan them with a ruler in the scan I'll have a reference to use to ensure I print them at the correct scale. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 (edited) OK I could try that,when I find it, in meantime, I'm sure this is the issue, the cover looks familiar. PM your email address Ian & I'll go dig. Steve. Edited January 10, 2018 by stevehnz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalea Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 I use the plans in Ian D Huntly's Aviation Guide published by SAM publications in 2004. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 dalea: My comment on the wings was directed at the Airfix kit - I'm sure that you've seen many comments directed at those. They did have the benefit of being easier to convert to a Fulmar, in the days when such a thing was necessary. However, I'm surprised to see Dave's comments on the MPM wings. Have you compared the MPM wings with the plans - or indeed the fuselage overall length? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalea Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Have dug out my file. Firstly the Valiant Wings nose was intended for the Airfix Kit. My apologies. Ian D Huntly's own plans appeared in 'Aircraft Illustrated' March 1974, but they were not to 1/72 scale. Richard J Caruana's plans appeared in 'Scale Aviation Modeller International' in June 2001 and reappear in the 'Aviation Guide' dated 2004' Placing the MPM plastic over the plans, I find the wing matches almost exactly. the length of the fuselage is spot on , as is the tail plane span. As too the fit of the resin interior and the thickness and profile of the canopy, I haven't yet checked. How accurate are the Caruana plans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 (edited) The simple answer is that we don't know, or at least I don't. Richard Caruana is an excellent and highly prolific artist and contributor to many publications. However , like many prolific/professional workers, he has to be limited in the time given to each subject, so does tend to rely upon previously published data which can be dodgy. So my personal opinion is admire his work but not to rely upon it without independent verification - and check that. Ian Huntley did produce a specialist work on the Battle more recently, which I suspect is the one you mention, but I don't think that it included plans. Perhaps I should dig it out to confirm that. As Ian did work for Fairey, and was well aware of the problems with the Airfix kit, I would expect his plans to be very reliable. So if you have a copy of that issue of AI, take them to a professional printer and get them rescaled. Something else I could dig out whilst I'm at it...but my two favourite local printers have gone out of business. Or just use the ones in his Aviation Guide. I'm a little surprised that I haven't used them to settle the matter myself, but perhaps the kit had already been placed on a back shelf and ignored. Edited January 10, 2018 by Graham Boak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Best plans were the ones Huntley did for Aviation News, later reproduced in SAM in 84/85ish along with his notes on how to rework the Airfix Battle, at the time Airfix rereleased the kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 there's a few on the usual bidding site today. An airfix version currently sits at $1.25 and is due to finish tomorrow. There's also a 1/72 version from a company called Bilek which is listed at $21 (with free shipping), but are also accepting offers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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