1/72 - Fairey Battle Mk.I by FRROM - 3D renders+sprues design+box art+decals+schemes - release in April-May 2024

[Enzo the Magnificent]

I fancy building this. 

 

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C288087

[GrzeM]

11 hours ago, Gilles_53 said:

FR0047 box art, modified as requested (letters and fin flag)

 

Lovely! Thank you!!!

We've been waiting for good Battle kit soooooo long!!! I'm so excited!

[Meatbox8]

3 hours ago, GrzeM said:

Lovely! Thank you!!!

We've been waiting for good Battle kit soooooo long!!! I'm so excited!

Nice. That's the boxing for me.

[Airlie Bird]

The one thing that I am surprised no-one has asked......

......why doesn't the kit have the option of open wing bays for the bombs ?

 

Even the old airfix kit had that (not in great detail admittedly), and I don't fancy hacking through a solid wing to make 4 rectangular openings without something going horribly wrong !

[JWM]

24 minutes ago, Airlie Bird said:

....why doesn't the kit have the option of open wing bays for the bombs ?

Perhaps a lack of good enough documentation, how exactly it looked like? The existing Battles are trainers, I think.

[PatG]

Sorry if this has already been covered but got told off for asking a couple of questions of late on the main WW2 forum so here goes anyway.

 

The Belgian boxing/box art clearly shows the elongated fairing under the nose and the different style exhaust manifolds typical of those exported to Belgium so doe anyone know if these features will actually be in the box or will it just have Belgian decals as per the Airfix kit?

 

The low res and early sprue shots I've seen suggest not which will be a pity.

 

Pat.

[Gilles_53]

We should get three types of exhausts (two above the half lower wings in the wings sprue, the third on top of the small parts sprue), three different machines guns, the specific parts for Belgian machines will be included (early exhausts, longer fairing and MG). Hovever, the Belgians got also the "early" landing gear cover in three parts, we should get only the "classic" piece, in one part, in the kit (TBC)

Edited June 12, 2023 by Gilles_53

[PatG]

Great, thank you for confirming.

 

I'm now even more eager to get mine from Hannants when it eventually arrives.

 

Just hoping that Eduard or similar will produce a mask set soon after for what will be a very good seller!

 

Pat.

[Roger Holden]

Decal sheets look rather bare without any stencils, which these aircraft undoubtedly carried.  At least, the ubiquitous 'W/T' airframe bonding symbols. Guess we've been spoiled by Airfix giving us all the stencils in their British aircraft kits...

[M.T.Dolby]

I can’t wait for these to be released! I have 2 on pre-order which is rare for me and shows just how exciting these kits look! It’s been great to see the amount of work with the design, CAD and research that goes into producing a model. Arma and Airfix also do a great job showing that journey from concept to final product now as well and I think it really helps make us feel involved in a way but also builds the anticipation! Thank you Gilles and team for finally doing this aeroplane justice!

Matt

[Tbolt]

On 09/06/2023 at 11:11, Airlie Bird said:

The one thing that I am surprised no-one has asked......

......why doesn't the kit have the option of open wing bays for the bombs ?

 

Even the old airfix kit had that (not in great detail admittedly), and I don't fancy hacking through a solid wing to make 4 rectangular openings without something going horribly wrong !

 

Because it's not a surprise - neither their B-10 or their Alizé has bomb bays. I guess just like AM and Tamiya with their Il-2 they just decided not to include them. It's alright, when Airfix do a new tool Battle that will be the one to have 😉

[John Thompson]

On 6/9/2023 at 6:11 AM, Airlie Bird said:

The one thing that I am surprised no-one has asked......

......why doesn't the kit have the option of open wing bays for the bombs ?

 

Even the old airfix kit had that (not in great detail admittedly), and I don't fancy hacking through a solid wing to make 4 rectangular openings without something going horribly wrong !

 

5 hours ago, Tbolt said:

 

Because it's not a surprise - neither their B-10 or their Alizé has bomb bays. I guess just like AM and Tamiya with their Il-2 they just decided not to include them. It's alright, when Airfix do a new tool Battle fhat will be the one to have 😉

 

These kits of bombers without bomb bays herald a new era of "woke", non-violent aircraft models.

 

John

[Heather Kay]

3 minutes ago, John Thompson said:

 

 

These kits of bombers without bomb bays herald a new era of "woke", non-violent aircraft models.

Oh, I dunno. You could have someone's eye out with a prop blade if the mood took you.

[Mr T]

I think a more likely reason for a lack of open bomb bays is down to cost. Anyway, it could be argued that unless you want to model an aircraft surrounded by by ground crew and bomb dollies, or in flight mode at the point of attack, bomb doors seem to be usually firmly shut. It's a bit like aircraft on the ground with flaps down. RAF pilots were 'fined' on some squadrons for failing to make sure the flaps were up after landing. OK some aircraft had flaps that had a tendency to droop with loss of pressure, but not all. Past friends who were ground crew tell me aircraft were left closed up to prevent damage and keep the elements out, unless bring worked on. 

[dogsbody]

Also, the bomb doors on Battles were held closed by bungee cords. When released, the weight of the bombs forced the doors open and the bombs dropped. When being loaded, the groundcrew just held/propped the doors open.

 

 

 

 

Chris

[Work In Progress]

Yes. Open bomb bays on a Battle would be non-prototypical for the aircraft in any kind of normal flight or parked. It's not a Lancaster.

[Tbolt]

3 hours ago, Mr T said:

I think a more likely reason for a lack of open bomb bays is down to cost. Anyway, it could be argued that unless you want to model an aircraft surrounded by by ground crew and bomb dollies, or in flight mode at the point of attack, bomb doors seem to be usually firmly shut. It's a bit like aircraft on the ground with flaps down. RAF pilots were 'fined' on some squadrons for failing to make sure the flaps were up after landing. OK some aircraft had flaps that had a tendency to droop with loss of pressure, but not all. Past friends who were ground crew tell me aircraft were left closed up to prevent damage and keep the elements out, unless bring worked on. 

 

Aircraft parked up with flaps down is like one with engine cowls or gunbays open, or even canopies open - if they are just parked up then none of these things are usually open except for access, but that doesn't mean people don't want to open them to show things off. If someone did a B-17 with closed only bomb bay doors you can be sure their would be a huge amount of complaints, but like you say in this case it's probably about costs.

[Mr T]

Yes, I can understand why modellers want to display stuff, and fair enough. My problem is that my next birthday is the big 70, and my stash, and what I want to build, comfortably exceeds any reasonable life expectancy. 

[Gilles_53]

On 6/14/2023 at 10:26 PM, Roger Holden said:

Decal sheets look rather bare without any stencils, which these aircraft undoubtedly carried.  At least, the ubiquitous 'W/T' airframe bonding symbols. Guess we've been spoiled by Airfix giving us all the stencils in their British aircraft kits...

We have not seen stencils on the Battles, but if somebody shows photos with these stencils, we still might try to stuff them into the decals sheets

[Enzo the Magnificent]

3 hours ago, Mr T said:

my stash, and what I want to build, comfortably exceeds any reasonable life expectancy. 

 

You are SABLE.  Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy. 

[Tbolt]

3 hours ago, Mr T said:

Yes, I can understand why modellers want to display stuff, and fair enough. My problem is that my next birthday is the big 70, and my stash, and what I want to build, comfortably exceeds any reasonable life expectancy. 

 

I know how you feel. I'm a little bit younger but I probably need to live to 150 to build my current stash. I still like adding extra detail to some builds though.

[Roger Holden]

1 hour ago, Gilles_53 said:

We have not seen stencils on the Battles, but if somebody shows photos with these stencils, we still might try to stuff them into the decals sheets

They would usually be shown in the APs (Air Ministry Publications for servicing and maintaining the aircraft). The RAF Museum often has copies of these.   That's where Airfix gets them from, I think.

[Chuck1945]

10 hours ago, Mr T said:

Yes, I can understand why modellers want to display stuff, and fair enough. My problem is that my next birthday is the big 70, and my stash, and what I want to build, comfortably exceeds any reasonable life expectancy. 

My 78th was last month, I can relate 100%. I’ve got two of these on pre-order anyway!

[Dennis_C]

23 hours ago, Tbolt said:

 

Because it's not a surprise - neither their B-10 or their Alizé has bomb bays. I guess just like AM and Tamiya with their Il-2 they just decided not to include them. It's alright, when Airfix do a new tool Battle that will be the one to have 😉

Same for Vautour... Still fully understandable as bomb bays do require quite a lot of extra plastic. Keep this update for aftermarket folks...

[Mr T]

10 hours ago, Enzo the Magnificent said:

 

You are SABLE.  Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy. 

I suppose it's better than being lumped into the category of SAD DAD by my daughter (until she wants something). Back to the Battle, I have one on pre-order, I still have some MPM ones, including the trainer and TT, so all is not lost.