Airfix New Deal.

Since Hornby took over Airfix the company has released a steady stream of new kits, many of theme replacing old outdated kits. I have built quite a few of the new kits and I think most of them are great. Later this year Airfix will be releasing new 1/72 scale kits for P-40B Tomahawk, A6M Zero, Swordfish Mk1 and a Folland Gnat. Already in stores are a Vickers Valiant and a early Spitfire Mk I. In 1/48 scale there is an Bf-109E and a Seafire Mk F. XVII on the shelf’s.

Here is a picture of my Airfix collection.

Airfix New Tool Kits

1:72
A01003 - Curtiss Tomahawk P-40B
A01005 - Mitsubishi Zero A6M2b-type 21
A01006 - Folland Gnat
A01071A - Spitfire Mk Ia
A02005 - BAE Red Arrows Hawk
A02010 - Supermarine Spitfire Mk I / Mk IIa
A02017 - Spitfire PRXIX
A02029 - Messerschmitt BF109G
A02037 - MiG 15
A02065 - Supermarine Spitfire MkIXc
A02096 - Hawker Hurricane MkII c/d
A03073 - BAE Hawk 128/132
A03078 - Sea Harrier FRS1
A03079 - Sea Harrier FA2
A03080 - Messerschmitt Bf110 C/D
A03081 - Messerschmitt Bf110 E
A03082 - North American F-86F Sabre
A03083 - Canadair Mk.4 Sabre
A03085 - BAe Hawk T1
A04050 - BAe Harrier GR9
A04053 - Fairey Swordfish Mk1
A05038 - English Electric Canberra B(I) 8
A05039 - English Electric Canberra PR9

A08011 - Stratos 4 TSR.2MS (This one is reported to have a very poor fit.)
A11001 - Vickers Valiant

1:48
A05117 - Spitfire MkXII
A05120 - Messerschmitt Bf109E
A05122 - Messerschmitt Bf109E Tropical
A06102 - Seafire XVIIc
A10106 - H.S. Sea Vixen FAW

New purchase in July

2 x 200ml Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner on Ebay.uk for 17£ incl. shipping. I used to go crazy when local dealers always were out of stock of important stuff. Nowadays I don’t care I just buy what's out of stock off the Internet.

Pegasus is a new Chinese manufacturer of snap together kits. The kits have few parts and require no glue. Decals comes both as stickers and wet transfer type. Some kits are toy-like but their Me-262 and Hurricane are OK.

Revell 1/72 Me-262

According to SAM-Magazine this is one of the best offerings in 1/72 scale and it's also one of the cheapest Me- 262 kits around. But the canopy seems to be poorly done in my kit.

Hobby Boss 1/72 F-86 Sabre

I hope Hobby Boss F-86 is a better offer than Airfix's recent release but dry fitting of the parts reveals some tricky seams to fill.

Humbrol has a new tin and possible a new formula for their acrylic paint and they works fine for both airbrush and brush painting. It's nice to finally have access to the Humbrol palette in acrylic medium. I've bought some tin's for Airfix new Sea Harrier.

Marivox 1/72 FFVS J-22

I discovered an old kit of a FFVS J-22 from Marivox when I was going throuh som storage boxes in my basement and decided to give a go. The kit went together easily except for the under carriage which was a bit fiddly. The color scheme is the standard dark olive top side and blue Grey underside which were applied to most Swedish air force aircraft during the late 1940's and 50's. I used Vallejo model color and mixed my standard recipe:
Blue Grey:
992 - 20 drops
951 - 10 drops
808 - 2 drops
915 - 1 or 2 drops
Olive Green:
915 10 drops
950 3 drops
The decals went on nicely but unfortunately I didn’t have enough "P" to cover both sides but decal sheets with letters are available. The kit is a perfect weekend project and today there is an upgraded version in the stores from Marivox with a new decal sheet and a smal fret of photoetched parts.

Airfix 1/72 F-86 Sabre

I really like the new Airfix kit's but the new F-86 Sabre is a bit of a lemon. There were some fit problem, warped parts and the wheels were poorly done but the decal sheet is superb. Well with some filling and sanding it went together without to much hassle. I airbrushed the plane with Vallejo Air Aluminum and gave it a cote of gloss varnish before decaling.

 

Tamiya 1/48 Lancaster

I always wanted to build Tamiyas big Lancaster but up until now it has been hard to get and when it's been available it's usually been the grand slam or dambuster version. I wanted to build a generic Lancaster and when the latest edition of the Mk I /III kit hit the stores I bought one. This edition has new parts for the engine nacelle, propellers, wheels and rear turret. A new decal sheet is also included. For some strange reason I opted for the version that used the old parts, if I ever would build another one it would be option "C" with all the new parts and a fancy nose art. Regardless of which option one would go for, the kit will build up to an impressive model indeed.