It was a bit of a strange modelling experience as you can see that there is such technical complexity in the airframe, there is intricate detailing, but most of the tech stuff is hidden inside a smooth stealth anti-radar shape!
Showing posts with label Airfix. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Airfix. Show all posts
Sunday, 14 September 2025
Airfix - F35B Lightning II
Something modern, the F35B Lightning II - RAF/RN flying off the Queen Elizabeth or Prince of Wales aircraft carriers (see below, the plastic has been put together, next grey paint scheme):
It was a bit of a strange modelling experience as you can see that there is such technical complexity in the airframe, there is intricate detailing, but most of the tech stuff is hidden inside a smooth stealth anti-radar shape!
It was a bit of a strange modelling experience as you can see that there is such technical complexity in the airframe, there is intricate detailing, but most of the tech stuff is hidden inside a smooth stealth anti-radar shape!
Friday, 12 September 2025
Charity Shop Find - Airfix 1/72 Models
Obviously from somebody's loft clearout some old Airfix kits, I came across these in a "charity shop" and acquired them (see below, these have that Tunisian feel to them, ready to fight teh retreating Afrika Korp!):
Representing those not good, but better than before Allied mid-war tanks!
Representing those not good, but better than before Allied mid-war tanks!
Friday, 21 March 2025
Airfix Lightning IIB
I was visiting my local model shop. I really wanted to make a purchase, but I was struggling to find a "pocket money" sized treat for myself. That is an infrequent purchase bouncing around the £10-£20 mark that is not a major purchase. I looked and looked but was about to give up hope. Then I saw an Airfix starter kit of the new RAF (RNAS?) Lightning IIB that is supposed to be equipping the Royal Navy's HMS Queen Elizabeth CV and maybe at some time in the future HMS Prince of Wales CV [or just a spare trans-shipping deck?] too (see below. she is a quirky looking bird but like the Typhoon I should really get one and find an unused piece of ceiling to hang it from):
By making a model it always helps you spot and identify a real one in the sky, if it pops up quick out of the blue on a spontaneous fly by!
By making a model it always helps you spot and identify a real one in the sky, if it pops up quick out of the blue on a spontaneous fly by!
Wednesday, 4 December 2024
Bucket List Project: Fletcher Pratt 1:600(ish) game of The Battle of the River Plate [Model Collection] HMS Achilles
This is a long standing project of mine, ignorant to the disrespectful advice on how silly and large a scale it is to play it in. True to Airfix 1970's childhood fashion, three plastic cruiser kits versus a pocket battleship kit .. recreating "The Battle of the River Plate" (see below, the final ship model for the collection, an Airfix HMS Ajax which has to be converted to its Leander class sister HMS Achilles .. which I believe is to do with the positioning of the AA battery? I will find out as I thinks there is an online copy of an Airfix magazine I need to read .. as I am not the first wanting to do this):
The rules I intend to (first) use are Fletcher Pratt .. then we will see where that takes me. With this purchase I now have:
The rules I intend to (first) use are Fletcher Pratt .. then we will see where that takes me. With this purchase I now have:
- HMS Ajax (Airfix 1:600)
- HMS Exeter (Waterline 1:700 or an Old Russian 1:500 kits)
- HMS Achilles (Airfix 1:600 conversion)
- KM Admiral Graf Spee (Airfix 1:600 or Waterline 1:700 KM Deutschland)
Lets see how long it tales me to make and paint them.
Update:
From Bankinista, many thanks: Airfix Magazine Nov 1965 has an article on converting the Ajax kit to the Achilles at the time of the River Plate:
https://www.davecov.org/
https://www.davecov.org/
Friday, 25 October 2024
De Havilland Vampire Video!
Hmm, just prowling the internet and You Tube and this came up after an unrelated video .. (see below, the previous video was the final battle scene in the film Gladiator, so don't ask what bizarre connection the AI came up with to prompt me with this):
Looks like a modelling project has list been born, as I am pretty sure I have one of these in an old Airfix kit in the loft (see below, one I didn't do in my youth as I was only interested in WW2 propeller planes):
Model on!
Thursday, 21 December 2023
Waterloo done the Airfix Way with Phil Sabin
Following on from Bob Cordery's example (in his Wargaming Miscellany blog) post, I too have to pay tribute to Phil Sabin's latest completed project (and anybody painting 450 Airfix 20mm [1/72 in old money] old school wargaming figures gets my respect). Waterloo - The Dunnigan way (which to teh man's credit, originally created as a free wargame) with a few new Sabin tweaks added:
In Phil's own words:
Coinciding neatly with the release of Ridley Scott’s new blockbuster movie on Napoleon, I have just posted the 450 significantly improved 2nd edition of my own much-downloaded tweaks for Napoleon at Waterloo, together with a video illustrating and explaining my changes and showing a complete game using my new bespoke 3D playset with 450 painted Airfix figures, each representing around 400 real troops or 50 cannon.
You may find the tweaks and video at https://boardgamegeek.com/
Please share both links as widely as possible on other relevant board and miniatures gaming for a (together with the link to Charles’s book at https://www.usmcu.edu/
Our discussions of Charles’s ideas in his article and book provided the main impetus for me to create the 3D playset (using figures I first painted decades ago) and to revisit my original 2020 tweaks. Although the amendments proposed by Charles and myself coincide in several areas, our approaches are rather different, as is discussed in the thread below on ‘Tweaking Published Games’. Charles mostly takes the existing game system as read and focuses on more literal modelling of aspects such as the size of the farm garrisons, the tractability of woods and the times at which various contingents became available. I have used much more of a ‘design for effect’ approach, by playing the game repeatedly and introducing successive tweaks and constraints so that it comes closer to the historical course of events as regards aspects such as the differences among the three combat arms, Wellington’s reliance on defensive terrain, the fatal impetuosity of British horse, the long resistance of the farmhouses, the French cavalry charges, the progress of the Prussian advance and the time represented by each turn. Charles rather surprisingly leaves the original Anglo-Allied forces mostly unchanged, whereas I have shifted and combined a number of Wellington’s units to yield a far better model of his forces.
It is interesting to compare my own tweaks and illustrative refight with those provided by Charles on pp.137-48, 157-58 and 299-300 of his book. Both offer better simulations than does the original game, but their significant differences show the highly personal and individualistic nature of wargame modelling, which Peter Perla rightly compared to creating a painting of the real phenomenon. Our respective contributions give us plenty to discuss in this forum if desired. Besides the thread I mentioned above, newcomers may like to browse the other threads below on ‘Simulation vs. “Glorified Chess”’ and on ‘Esdaile’s Analysis of Waterloo Sims’ to see the extensive discussions we have had already. I hope that our contributions (including the inspirational sight of my figure version of the game) will encourage some of you to revisit this classic design and to tweak it in your own preferred style. After waiting patiently in their box files for decades, my bespoke miniatures have already seen extensive action during my many playtests, and I look forward to using them in plenty of future refights, perhaps with Bondarchuk’s 1970 movie playing in the background for added atmosphere!
The final word from this Blog:
Just those two screenshots make it mouth watering for me, what Phil has done in the rules, explained in the video makes it cool! Respect for completing a nice little project!
Monday, 30 October 2023
Airfix 1/72 Shooting Star - Korean War
After reading a good book on a subject, I invariably get the itchy modelling fingers. So it was with the Korean War book from Max Hastings. I therefore bought an in period model kit to make. As it happened it was a "model I missed as a child", aka the Airfix Shooting Star (re-released in the Vintage Kit series for old nostalgic fogies like me to buy). As a kid I was still very much a "WWII Spitfire Propeller" aficionado. I thought jets were a bit like cheating and not as interesting as the "piston-engine" planes (see below, I did not quite understand jets, I thought they were flying vacuum cleaners):
A bucket-list project for the winter months. This also means I will be on the lookout for Airfix re-releasing their Mig-15 [and as Bob Cordery pointed out .. The Gloster Meteor as flown by the RAAF and just as importantly, available in Airfix Vintage].
A bucket-list project for the winter months. This also means I will be on the lookout for Airfix re-releasing their Mig-15 [and as Bob Cordery pointed out .. The Gloster Meteor as flown by the RAAF and just as importantly, available in Airfix Vintage].
Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Airfix 1/72 Airborne and Willy's Jeeps
It goes without saying that you can never have too many jeeps in a WW2 Western US or British Allied army. Hence the unmade box of plastics spilled forth four more jeeps to be made, three of which were the new Airfix Airborne type and one a Willy's [ex-Heller] recon type (see below, the Heller kit was missing the lower chassis part so a clever bit of plastic card substitution, if I do say so myself, was introduced):
I suppose the airborne jeeps can also double as SAS jeeps in Western Europe 44-45 as well. The impressive bit about the new Airfix kits is the range of MGs you can add to them, as well as the extremely useful 75mm pack howitzer (see below, which pretty much pads out my immediate need for any more allied utility vehicles):
It was a nice general build.
I suppose the airborne jeeps can also double as SAS jeeps in Western Europe 44-45 as well. The impressive bit about the new Airfix kits is the range of MGs you can add to them, as well as the extremely useful 75mm pack howitzer (see below, which pretty much pads out my immediate need for any more allied utility vehicles):
It was a nice general build.
Monday, 6 March 2023
Airfix Lee/Grant scrapped together from a Donation and bits from the Scrap Box.
The different coloured pieces of plastic tells the sorry tale in itself. This "baby" Grant Tank on the right comes from multiple parents .. at least one brown/orange, one yellow and one green Airfix Lee/Grant kit (plus some hobby store plastic-card, a curved front from what I think was a M36 Jackson, "Sherman(?)" rollers and a PSC storage box to cover a bodged hull to chassis seam). A Frankenstein of sorts or patchwork quilt, but rather than a sad model discarded to the bin, it has a new least of life. I also loved the "edge of your seat" challenge in the making of it (see below, in its front facing Grant guise):
The rear shot shows the white plastic-card surfaces where the composite spare parts-did not quite stretch or cover enough (see below, though it has to be said working with "old brittle plastic" from the 1970's or 1980's is a curse as it had a tendency to crumble or splinter under pressure - this was a peculiar challenge for me as I had to first disassemble the previous attempt at building it [basically a carcass] and reassemble it [from a haphazard trapezoid to a more regular rectangular cross section]):
The Lee part of the tale is just a turret swap as it shares the hull, so with a newly completed Lee turret you have the option of two types of tank (see below, the Lee turret was taken from the "original" orange/brown plastic kit - where the majority of the pieces for this kit came from - again care being taken with its brittleness as the Lee turret has some fiddly MG parts):
Just remembered: The final note is that the "green" track came from the "spare" (as in the more detailed track option) in the new Airfix Sherman Firefly kit I have already made. There you go, I have one more tank to fight the Axis with. It also just shows you the usefulness of keeping a spares box (or two).
The rear shot shows the white plastic-card surfaces where the composite spare parts-did not quite stretch or cover enough (see below, though it has to be said working with "old brittle plastic" from the 1970's or 1980's is a curse as it had a tendency to crumble or splinter under pressure - this was a peculiar challenge for me as I had to first disassemble the previous attempt at building it [basically a carcass] and reassemble it [from a haphazard trapezoid to a more regular rectangular cross section]):
The Lee part of the tale is just a turret swap as it shares the hull, so with a newly completed Lee turret you have the option of two types of tank (see below, the Lee turret was taken from the "original" orange/brown plastic kit - where the majority of the pieces for this kit came from - again care being taken with its brittleness as the Lee turret has some fiddly MG parts):
Just remembered: The final note is that the "green" track came from the "spare" (as in the more detailed track option) in the new Airfix Sherman Firefly kit I have already made. There you go, I have one more tank to fight the Axis with. It also just shows you the usefulness of keeping a spares box (or two).
Tuesday, 28 February 2023
Desert Air: RAF Curtiss Tomahawk IIB
I have been listening to James Holland's War in the West, Volume II recently (not quite finished it yet, as it is a very long audible listen), but one of the things it really emphasised was the importance of the allied Desert Air Force in fighting the DAK. Alongside the Hurricane Mk II tank strafer was the ubiquitous American made Tomahawk (see below, the "shark's teeth" epitomised the gruff ground attack ability to destroy the Axis supply lines and bomb it's armour, a war winning contribution):
So I am looking forward to making this, plus I class it as another bucket list build, one that I regret not making as a kid! Or rather small kid, as I am still a kid, just a big kid.
Wednesday, 22 February 2023
The Airfix Bofors Posse - A Bunch of Old 'Part-Kits' Made Good
One of the joys of the Conference of Wargamers (CoW) is the wonderous "bring and buy" stall, wherein a cornucopia of feasts is found: from books, board games to plastic models and the ubiquitous boxes of toy soldiers. More spare 'odds and ends' than full eBay collections, the useful left overs from last night's Indian curry that can make do for another meal (maybe I stretching the analogy there). For example from three separate Airfix boxes marked separately as: almost a Tractor and Bofor, two Bofor Tractors and a final one marked "more than one" Bofors and Tractor there came a veritable "Jock column" of 1/76 light AA guns was made (see below, admittedly two tractors were missing 'bonnets' but leftover plasti-card from other projects made up that shortfall; there was a final missing mudguard [to which I say is just character] which sadly came from when the wife poured out the soapy detergent basin of water in which they were "soaking in" to de-grease somewhat prematurely - in her defence she had emptied the dregs of a coffee cup into the waters and was actually trying to make good her perceived "damage" to the models [moving on]):
A final posse of four tractors in total were made which was quite an achievement from all the separate boxes (see below, I am quite proud of the production line effort now ready to be shipped to the front. Somehow I am thinking Western Desert or Mediterranean - although it was a ubiquitous piece of kit used throughout the war so perhaps British Army "Green" would be better 1940, 1943-45):
Part two of the build, the actual Bofor AA guns, which I made three models of in total so there is a spare tractor which comes in rather handy (see below, all in a WIP state - the two to the right look more "lunar lander" than finished AA guns at the moment):
The complete battery (see below, three guns and plenty of binoculars scanning the sky, by Holmes like abductive reasoning I think in total there were at least six different original model kits in play to generate my four complete tractors and three complete guns):
Bring on those Stukas we are ready for you! And a big thanks to the suppliers of the original raw material from the CoW 2019 Bring and Buy stall, look forward to seeing you for some more in 2023.
A final posse of four tractors in total were made which was quite an achievement from all the separate boxes (see below, I am quite proud of the production line effort now ready to be shipped to the front. Somehow I am thinking Western Desert or Mediterranean - although it was a ubiquitous piece of kit used throughout the war so perhaps British Army "Green" would be better 1940, 1943-45):
Part two of the build, the actual Bofor AA guns, which I made three models of in total so there is a spare tractor which comes in rather handy (see below, all in a WIP state - the two to the right look more "lunar lander" than finished AA guns at the moment):
The complete battery (see below, three guns and plenty of binoculars scanning the sky, by Holmes like abductive reasoning I think in total there were at least six different original model kits in play to generate my four complete tractors and three complete guns):
Bring on those Stukas we are ready for you! And a big thanks to the suppliers of the original raw material from the CoW 2019 Bring and Buy stall, look forward to seeing you for some more in 2023.
Monday, 20 February 2023
German Recon 20mm Airfix Classic (Vintage) Set
Another Airfix classic, this time a muddled box of confused spares and complete sprues with had two Kubelwagans and two 222 armoured cars. Yes the early war German classic Recon Set (see below, one twist as I left teh turrets off the armoured cars as I will be converting these to a 221 machine gun armed version and a 223 radio car version - wish me luck):
This would mean that combined with my existing force of 222 armoured cars (good for Russia 1941 onwards to 1943 in grey), or I can either go more early war, and field the machine gun armed 221 and Hortch Kf 13 armoured cars (thinking Poland 1939 and France 1940). Either way the 223 is a good radio Command Car option.
Sunday, 19 February 2023
British Army Chieftain and Berlin Camo Reference Material
Another Airfix build from the loft, this time a Cold War veteran, the BOAR Chieftain or rather a second to keep an earlier Chieftain build company (see below, it was an old kit in the hard plastic [cover picture showing a finished model as opposed to the "crossing the rugged field" artwork - so it was pretty old] and dangerously brittle tracks):
Thinking of the Berlin garrison with its unique urban camo (see below, nothing like setting yourself a challenge):
Well I had me some fun running around the Internet seeing various sources and takes on the Berlin Camo pattern:
Watch this space for the painting description (eventually), but I think it will be a slow process.
Saturday, 18 February 2023
Airfix's "Boomerang Bob" Fighter - A Bucket List Build
I eagerly awaited the 2022 "Vintage" re-release of the Australian WWII "Panic Fighter" (the real thing was made from spare parts from aircraft available indigenous in Australia in 1942) as I remember "seeing it" as a kid in the Airfix Catalogue, wondering about it, but never going about getting it. There was always something more 'sexy' with crosses on it that took preference. A bit like the Fairey Battle and Brewster Buffalo, a missed childhood opportunity (see below, the CA-13 with original box art in all its glory, I bought it direct from Airfix when I picked up some resin buildings in their end of year sale):
All things said it is not a particularly complicated build, not many parts but I took time as I was in no particular rush (see below, it came together quite nicely):
If there was a scary part about building the Boomerang it was the canopy as it comes in three parts, the main bubble and two 'sliding' side parts (see below, I took time to make sure things fit well, the inside needed painting before the messy "Clearfix" came into use later):
The decals were very sexy, the Australian RAAF Pacific version of the RAF roundel, with the red bit missing as "anything with a bit of red in it, got a lot of Allied AA fire" regardless of what it actually was. All the Allied countries discovered the universal itchy AA trigger finger of their AA gunners to their own cost (see below, something satisfyingly distinctive with the missing red that says Pacific War we are fighting the Japanese):
Primed Airfix Acrylic Grey (see below, you may need to do a double take to spot any difference, but trust me there is a layer of grey paint there):
Because it is the way I do things now, the whole model got a Vallejo Dipping Sepia Brown wash coat (see below, the brown and green colour scheme seemed to lend itself to brown rather than black for leaving the detail "lined in" after putting on the base colour, I guess it is all about "painting less" rather than more):
Bottoms up, underside first. I wanted to use as close as I could to the original Airfix/Humbrol paint scheme and as luck had it I had Humbrol 65 (Matt Aircraft Blue) in a little penny packet paint pot from another "starter kit" which saved me a trip to the model shop (see below, the brown wash seems to be working nicely for the dark detail):
Starting the topside camouflage, first the brown (see below, note this is where I had to use the paint matcher site which said Tamiya XF-52 Matt Earth [4.5 stars match] equates to Humbrol Acrylic 98 Matt Chocolate):
https://www.modelshade.com/paint-conversion-chart/humbrol/241
Next the camo green part to complement the brown (see below, Humbrol Acrylic 149 Matt Dark Green gets matched to Vallejo Model 70.894 [4.0 stars but also a bit of confusion here, as the site matcher calls this Camo Olive Green - but my bottle says Russian Green, so I went with my 894 bottle anyway]):
Next: The white tail (Humbrol Acrylic 34) and black (Humbrol Acrylic 33) propeller - note the tips of the propeller were not painted black, but were left lighter to help the yellow paint stand out better, Alos the flight jacket was given a Vallejo Leather Brown base coat (see below, the little bits count as much as the big bits - I think I have also given the pilot some flat flesh on his face and hands too):
Next a highlight to the brown by mixing in a little yellow, plus the tips of the propeller are painted yellow (see below, I just wanted it to look a little blocky and weather worn over the panelling):
Similar yellow mixed with the green for another blocky highlight, I also give the pilot a highlight on his leather flying suit (see below, at this point I think the paint job is starting to come together nicely):
The tail gets a final white highlight which is just another coat of paint giving it depth to the prominent places, and neglecting the recesses, touching up with a brown wash. The cockpit glass is put into place using ClearFix - my least favourite Humbrol product as I find it very messy and stringy and I am odds to get it in the right places, even carefully dabbing it on with a cocktail stick (see below, fixed in place I leave it to set overnight):
Fixed in place the plexiglass gets blacklined (see below, by this point I am almost exhausted painting, so I go slow and carefully, absolutely no rushing):
From black to camo green and then a subtle highlight (see below, begging for the Australian decals to bring it to life):
The decals really make it look the part. However there is a sorry tale to tell here. As the Humbrol product I used, DecalFix reacted badly with the Tamiya and Vallejo paints, as in it stripped them away beautifully .. sadness gripped my heart. Now to worry I carried on and let the decals fix, then when all "well and truly dry" I painted round decals as best I could (see below, I think I got away with it; interestingly the subject of DecalFix melting Tamiya paints is well covered on the forums - I subsequently found out):
The underside, the only thing to add is the fact that I highlighted the Humbrol Aircraft Blue 65, with a Revel Aqua Colour, Sky Blue, then adding a touch of white for a subtle highlight of a highlight in places that just caught the eye (see below, tickle that tummy, which has a bulbous camera housing in it, dead centre):
The final act is a matte varnish (see below, Humbrol Matt Cote):
Bucket list item .. "Done" and I am very proud of it.
Next the camo green part to complement the brown (see below, Humbrol Acrylic 149 Matt Dark Green gets matched to Vallejo Model 70.894 [4.0 stars but also a bit of confusion here, as the site matcher calls this Camo Olive Green - but my bottle says Russian Green, so I went with my 894 bottle anyway]):
Next: The white tail (Humbrol Acrylic 34) and black (Humbrol Acrylic 33) propeller - note the tips of the propeller were not painted black, but were left lighter to help the yellow paint stand out better, Alos the flight jacket was given a Vallejo Leather Brown base coat (see below, the little bits count as much as the big bits - I think I have also given the pilot some flat flesh on his face and hands too):
Next a highlight to the brown by mixing in a little yellow, plus the tips of the propeller are painted yellow (see below, I just wanted it to look a little blocky and weather worn over the panelling):
Similar yellow mixed with the green for another blocky highlight, I also give the pilot a highlight on his leather flying suit (see below, at this point I think the paint job is starting to come together nicely):
The tail gets a final white highlight which is just another coat of paint giving it depth to the prominent places, and neglecting the recesses, touching up with a brown wash. The cockpit glass is put into place using ClearFix - my least favourite Humbrol product as I find it very messy and stringy and I am odds to get it in the right places, even carefully dabbing it on with a cocktail stick (see below, fixed in place I leave it to set overnight):
Fixed in place the plexiglass gets blacklined (see below, by this point I am almost exhausted painting, so I go slow and carefully, absolutely no rushing):
From black to camo green and then a subtle highlight (see below, begging for the Australian decals to bring it to life):
The decals really make it look the part. However there is a sorry tale to tell here. As the Humbrol product I used, DecalFix reacted badly with the Tamiya and Vallejo paints, as in it stripped them away beautifully .. sadness gripped my heart. Now to worry I carried on and let the decals fix, then when all "well and truly dry" I painted round decals as best I could (see below, I think I got away with it; interestingly the subject of DecalFix melting Tamiya paints is well covered on the forums - I subsequently found out):
The underside, the only thing to add is the fact that I highlighted the Humbrol Aircraft Blue 65, with a Revel Aqua Colour, Sky Blue, then adding a touch of white for a subtle highlight of a highlight in places that just caught the eye (see below, tickle that tummy, which has a bulbous camera housing in it, dead centre):
The final act is a matte varnish (see below, Humbrol Matt Cote):
Bucket list item .. "Done" and I am very proud of it.
Friday, 17 February 2023
My "Last" Airfix Churchills
There are Airfix "Vintage" kits and then there is the Airfix Churchill, more challenge than nostalgic joy, but satisfying nevertheless (see below, one look at the picture and old-timers will know where I am coming from - "bogie wheels are us"):
Apparently there is a clever - "keep it on the sprue until the last moment" - technique I have never been privy to (see below, one done bar the turret, the other WIP, plenty of glue being used to keep everything in place):
Both ready for their tops, but one will have a twist (see below, when you get as far as this point there is a certain "downhill from here on in" satisfaction as you sip your tea, with the 'hard bit' well behind you):
A standard Normandy 75mm Mk VII turret and a "bridge layer" - yes it is that "add on bit" to the vintage kit model. Airfix seemed to go through a phase of taking an old standard kit then adding a specialist sprue on - Churchill Crocodile, Churchill Bridge Layer, Sherman Flail, Sherman Calliope and Matilda Hedgehog .. all good stuff (see below, my final Churchills are now made, small question of painting and decals):
The Airfix Bridge Layer Churchill complements the Matchbox Revell AVRE Bridge Layer. I like the fact that this is a non-fighting specialist AFV. One for the bucket list done!
Thursday, 16 February 2023
Airfix Tribute Forum: Military Kits Listing
As of late, basically a spin-off from Xmas activities, I have kept on assembling some of my collected kits concentrating on the Airfix ones (it was basically a case of "do it now, or never"), also the box was getting too big and unwieldy in the loft for its own good. I came to thinking, "How close am I to completing the wheel?" - as in for my Airfix military vehicle collection - one of each kit there is (hands up here - I am talking vehicles only, as I am nowhere near the same kind of collector for the aircraft and ships, for wings and water I just dabble)?
The Airfix Tribute Forum seems to have the "definitive vehicle" list:
Considering only the [1:72, 1/76. HO/OO] kits I seem to be good on all the WWII (excluding the airfield utility stuff, RAF Emergency, Refuelling, Recovery and the RAF/USAF "bombing up" kit) and with a sense of pride, I have most of the modern stuff too! The exception being the mysterious SAM 2 missile launcher (now a lost mould) and a West German Leopard 1 (although I do have the "very business like" ESCI one). If I include the JB Models stuff as well, I am missing the modern (as in post WW2) British Army 105mm Howitzer, Soft Top Land Rover and again modern Bedford Trucks (but there is little chance of getting them now unless Airfix decides to re-issue them).
Heller Footnote: I remember that Airfix picked up some [1:72] Heller kits too, Willy's Jeep and the GMC US Truck from off the top of my head, but no mention of the other Heller kits so I presume they didn't buy the right to use those moulds. I know Heller also did a Sherman, Tiger, Somua S-35, AMX-13/105, AMX 13 DCA, Churchill, LCVP, VAB and AMX-30/105. Heller seems to have had it's ups and downs. I did find this interesting blog post on the web though:
Back to Airfix .. so with the completion of the "build" of the Bedford Trucks (2010) I call this "inner wheel of Airfix" now completed (see below, these Bedford trucks were an absolute joy of engineering to make, the paint and decals still to be done though):
If I see them again in the shops I would happily buy them in an instant (see below, I love the subtle touch of the AA Bren gun on its casual mount, plus the bicycle slung on the back of the lorry - it would be nice somehow to fill those infantry seats up with infantry though):
Does this mean I should move onto "other" vehicle manufacturers and completing their 'wheels' - this seems too big a task for my tiny pair of hands. But once the thought has been put into my ting mind smaller ranges might just become a target? As much as I enjoy a cautious "Vintage" Airfix retro-kit build, I am more of a fan of new Airfix, their new tooled kits are masterpieces as they almost fit together by themselves!
Sunday, 15 May 2022
1/72 Scale Airfix Sheridan - Vietnam Era
I have been quiet on the blog posting front but I have been pottering along quietly in the background, with of all things the "Vietnam era", courtesy of an Airfix 1/72 scale Sheridan (see below, now this thing had been assembled for ages [a decade?] and primed black but I had not been given a reason for it's final coat of paint):
So instead of Cold War era Europe paint job it swings across to the jungles of South East Asia instead. I know from photos an ACav style gun shield and turret topped ring of sandbags, plus a few on the front are scheduled modelling additions. Heavily armoured it was not, so the crews improvised additional measures.
So instead of Cold War era Europe paint job it swings across to the jungles of South East Asia instead. I know from photos an ACav style gun shield and turret topped ring of sandbags, plus a few on the front are scheduled modelling additions. Heavily armoured it was not, so the crews improvised additional measures.
Saturday, 12 February 2022
Looking forward to this (Vintage) release from Airfix later this year (2022): RAAF Boomerang (WWII)
A bit like the Fairey Battle kit, the RAAF Boomerang was a kit that I sadly missed first time round from my childhood Airfix shopping list. As it approaches a new [Autumn, so still a bit off] release date my salivation will start. Luckily it is one of the smaller models so even with the current plastic manufacturers price hikes [some of the prices of the recent large Airfix kits have caused consternation over the morning coffee, quite scary to the likes of little old me] I should snap one us (see below, I love the classic box art):
Note: Not a smidgen of red anywhere to be seen near the markings. Quiet the opposite in fact, blue highlighted by white. That is meant calm the twitchy trigger finger nerves of friendly Allied AA gunners and Allied aircrew alike, to avoid common "blue-on-blue".
Thursday, 12 August 2021
Painting Pacific War (1942) Douglas Dauntless Version SDB-3: Reference Notes
While "going through my loft" in search of the 1/48th scale Airfix Spitfire Vb (now proudly hanging from a son's bedroom ceiling), I came across a box marked the Airfix USN Pacific Air (Midway) Project. A "project on hold". I had (at some distant point in the past) collected the Airfix Devastator, Dauntless and Wildcat USN trio (I also plan/planning to to the same for the IJN [Zero, Kate, Val], likewise there is a RAF - Battle of Britain Fighter Box [Spitfire, Hurrican, Defiant, Beaufighter and Gloster Gladiator] and a Signature Battle of Britain Luftwaffe [Me 109, Me 110, Stuka Ju-87, Ju-88, Heinkel 111] collection/project in progress). Seeing as the Dauntless was only 'part complete' I decided to "give it a shove" and also do an unboxing on the Wildcat kit - which turned out to my surprise as a more modern re-tooled Airfix kit - the difference in the level of detail and clarity in instructional layout is significant (see below, kit progress: 100%, - 50% and 0% done):
The Devastator is a canny old bird and I have immense respect for the crew that had to fly these "obsolete" planes into battle in one of the pivotal periods of the Second World War. In fact the Devastator reminds me of the "Fairey Battle" of France 1940 fame. With respect to the paint job, I see I I tried to get a sea battered and weathered look (see below, I have a feeling that I have over worked it a little - sometimes less can be more):
Job done for the day so time to return the Dauntless to its USN Pacific War party box. It is a "no rush" project, it was nice just to get the loose bits of plastic stuck together and not lost and MIA (which is frustrating). I used some Vallejo Plastic Putty to fill the inevitable "gaps" of an early Airfix model kit (see below, the current painting tray, eclectic as ever, a WWII Pacific USN Air War set next to Games Workshop Fantasy bunch of Nurgles!):
One issue I have is, what sort of paint scheme to adopt. I chose the USB Dauntless SDB-3 option for the 1942 era Dauntless but the decals are for a NZ plane, the USMC decals are for the 1944 SDB-5 and the Oxford Blue paint scheme looks bad for 1942. So I am looking for a painting guide match for 1942 that can fit either Vallejo or Tamiya paints (at a push Airfix Humbrol). Suggestions appreciated.
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