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I ordered one which arrived today. Bigger and heavier than I was expecting and with a limited edition number engraved on it and in a protective hard plastic case. As I collect Airfix ephemera, I'm very pleased with it! But has anyone else seen the news about Airfix wrist-watches? £210 - £335 seems rather expensive....

At last - a recently engineered and moulded model! Keeping involved in my early jet aircraft mini-project, I've just received this Supermarine Swift FR5 - looking forward to a model that doesn't need too much doing to it! Mind you, if anyone has built one recently and has any useful hints and tips, I'd appreciate your input...

Thanks for your kind comments. I'm really looking forward to building a straightforward newly engineered model... but not just yet!

You might recall that I came across a bargain-priced 1/72 Hawker Hunter at a model show: After something of a struggle - I had to fabricate a missing tailplane, and I couldn't fit the long-range fuel tanks because they were missing too (in spite of the polybag being absolutely unopened) - I've finished it. Quite pleased with the outcome, and glad to have built such an iconic aircraft from an old Airfix kit. I did add a little bit of wheel-well detail, and blanked off a few large gaps in the air-intakes etc., and I gave it a more accurate pilot to taxi on to the runway. It also required quite a bit of seam-filling. The other addition were the decals, the kit decals being totally beyond use! I've finished it as XF515/R of No 43 Squadron based at Leuchars in 1959, using an Xtradecal set available from Hannants. And as is usual for me, the whole thing was brush painted using Vallejo Model Air of various appropriate hues, all finished off and sealed with Vallejo satin varnish, also brush applied. So now another step back in time, as I embark on the recently acquired Gloster Whittle...

Still trying to complete the very ancient (and incomplete) Hawker Hunter Kit that I acquired recently. As I've built a Gloster Meteor and a DH Vampire, I thought I might stick with a little mini-project of early-ish jets, and so here are two kits that have just joined the pile:

Be careful what you wish for... I share TdA's liking for research and I'm quite happy to purchase after-market decals in order to build a specific aircraft (see my various RAF Warmwell posts), but absolute historic accuracy is probably not what is going to attract the next generation of modellers to the hobby, but rather something that looks attractive or exciting or 'realistic' out of the box - and it's those purchasers who will ensure that Airfix has a future, and that we will be able to go on buying well-engineered kits at reasonable prices. In addition, having 'experts' on every subject is impossible in a finance limited workforce - and if getting absolute historical accuracy with every model means putting up the prices even higher, I'd rather let those nerds amongst us (me included) do our research and stuff, whilst keeping the cost of the original model as low as possible. For what it's worth, I think we are incredibly lucky at the moment - surely we are enjoying another 'Golden Age'.

Hannants are currently listing two Grumann Avenger vac-formed main cockpits in 1/72 scale - one made by Falcon purports to fit the Airfix model; the other by Rob Taurus is not designed for the Airfix model, but might do the trick (and it's in stock!). Mind you, I'm assuming that's the scale you're looking for.

Although I'm not sure that I want to build another old-mould Walrus just yet, given the amount of work that I felt that had to do on the interior to do the kit justice...

The Walrus that I produced was part of my on-going RAF Warmwell WW2 project. This particular aircraft was flown from there by 276 (ASR) Squadron, which was based at Warmwell between October 1941 and April 1944. If I can find another Airfix 1/72 kit, I might do another build, this time of Walrus PV-P which was also flown from Warmwell, but by 275 Squadron, who took over from 276 Sq. You might have seen my post about the two D-Day 275 ASR Sq Sptfires Also waiting on the shelf is a poly-bag old-mould Lysander which I'm intending to build also as a 276 sq ASR aircraft. I totally agree with you about the enjoyment to be gained from a back-story!

Thanks for the kind words. The rigging was quite a challenge... And the code letters should really have been yellow... But it was good fun to build!

I'd agree with the thought expressed by TdA - that it would be nice to have a new mould in 1/72 scale. Here's a picture of one I built in that scale quite recently, using a very old mould Airfix kit!

Ready to close up the fuselage. As mentioned previously, the pilot that came with the kit was much too small to look remotely in scale, so I used a PJ Production resin version - although he did need the Douglas Bader treatment... It's interesting how much more thought needs to go into an old-mould-model. But I don't want to go too far from an out of the bag build, so I've decided to stick with the supplied wheels, even though I think they are bit on the thin side.

Thanks Ratch - they're a bit clearer than the poly-bag version! I'm making a bit of progress - I've added some nose-weight using aquarium lead strip (thanks for that tip as well, Ratch!), and I've blanked off a few openings that would have been a bit obvious, and also added a 'ceiling' for the nose-wheel opening. I'm going to put a bit of detail into the wheel wells, and I'm ready to start painting the interior - I'm going to use a very dark grey rather than plain black. Here's a picture of today's progress however:

Thanks Marto - I had a look, but it's a very different kit in terms of lots of the inserts and dangly bits. I'll plod on!

Thanks for posting the picture - I hope mine finishes as neatly. I'm aiming at completing mine as a 43 Squadron aircraft - I like the colour scheme!. The decals that were in the bag are yellow and curled into a roll - when I tried to very gently flatten them, they started to crack, so I sourced some from Hannants. I notice that you've omitted the 'rockets' - as I intend to as well. But I think quality control was distinctly lacking with mine - not just a missing tailplane, but also no long range tanks - not an insuperable problem however. I have already decided to use a PJ productions pilot - the one in the kit seems to be far too small to see over the dashboard! Not as straightforward as I'd hoped, but I like a challenge.