Tour de Airfix

I have to agree with you, Paul. If as I understand it and as I have seen, Airfix suggest on their sales page paints required to complete one of their kits, then I would expect these to match 100% those they have printed on the instructions printed within or on the outside of the box. Anything else would surely be misleading at best, especially when they are expecting the customer to part with cash based on their recommendation. 😡 Interestingly, I’ve just built 2 Hawker Typhoons from a gift set with paint pots included and one without where the modeller has to buy his own … while the build instructions are the same, the colours suggested for the two are totally different … it can be a minefield 😳 Now, whether the colours they suggest are 100% accurate for that subject is a whole different matter and this is where additional research for the “rivet counters” and history buffs (a group in which I sometime find myself associating with) is required. 🤷‍♂️

Excellent … I have half a dozen 1:35 AFVs awaiting space on my bench and seeing these pictures are certainly inspiring me to move them closer!

Look forward to seeing some pictures 👍😊

That looks great! I built the Yellowjacks and Red Arrow a part of a display team project but not tried this scheme before. I love the orange / silver look.

Thank you Dominic. ☺️ I’m afraid I’m a real sucker for the background story and I read and research deeply into everything I build. I’d probably of had less to say on this one if our friends at Airfix had done the same. This has given me an idea for another thread 😉

And the other from the 75th Anniversary D-Day Air Assault Set A50157A is also complete. This, as I shared with Dominic earlier, is an interesting release from Airfix, as it is not as suggested a June 1944 D-Day kit at all. MP124 was delivered to 247 Squadron in August, S/Ldr Stapleton did not take part in Operation Overlord (D-Day)and was never based at RAF Hurn. Here's the true story behind ... Typhoon MP124 ZY-Y of No.247 (China-British) Squadron, Aircraft flown by Squadron Leader Basil Gerald "Stapme" Stapleton DFC, No 83 Group, 124 Wing, 2nd Tactical Air Force, 1944. There were at least 8 ZY-Y Typhoons during WW2 and the aircraft which flew on D-Day was MN363, damaged and removed from service on 8 June and thus not Typhoon MP124 ZY-Y flown by S/Ldr Stapleton. S/Ldr Stapleton was serving as an instructor for the RAF Central Gunnery School on D-Day and promoted to take command of 247 Squadron in August 1944. Although missing D-Day itself, he was thrown straight into the fray on joining 247 Squadron, at their Advance Landing Ground B6/Coulombs, Normandy, when on 25 August his first recorded operational flight was flying Typhoon MN585 in an RP attack on tanks at Beuille. His personal Typhoon, MP126, was delivered from the forward staging base at RAF Bognor, West Sussex, on 28 August 1944. His first operational flight in the aircraft was an armed reconnaissance flight on 9 September. The Squadron record book for the day reports 8 Typhoons led by S/ Ldr B G Stapleton DFC detailed for an armed recce in the Bergen op Zoom - Breda - Dordreich - Gorinchem - Hortogen - Bosch - Tilburg area. No movement could be observed due to bad weather. On the morning of 10 September, weather had improved and Stapleton was back in the air leading 7 Typhoons on another armed recce, this time in the Breda - Hertogenbosch - Eindhoven- Venlo - Turnhout area. They attacked and destroyed a locomotive west of Breda and a convoy south of Eindhoven. In the afternoon he went up again leading 8 Typhoons to attack a 60 plus convoy. They found 20 plus and attacked with RP reportedly knocking out 5 before sighting a stationary goods train which they attacked with cannon. On 17 September, the opening day of Operation Market Garden, Stapleton led 8 RP Typhoons against 2 gun positions in the Arnhem area destroying one and damaging the other. 247 squadron’s Typhoons continued to provide support the advancing troops right through to the end of the operation on 25 September, though were severely hampered by poor weather. The squadron's sky coloured spinners were repainted red in late September / early October, and the whole of 124 Wing had them (137, 181, 182, 247 Sqns) by 2nd week of October. It is likely that this scheme was applied when they were stationed at Eindhoven to help waiting ground crews differentiate between the Typhoons of the 124 and 143 Wings which were based there. For some reason, on 5 December, Stapleton's MP126 was marked up as spare and then allocated to P/O Frikkie Wiersum for an armed recce of the Wesel - Dulmen - Cosefeld area, in Germany. While over Bochlot they encountered heavy and accurate flak, Wiersum was hit and last seen climbing into cloud streaming glycol. Although he called up over the RT to say he thought he could make base, he never arrived and it was presumed that he must have decided to bail out. No more was heard from him and Wiersum and MP126 were reported lost. Stapleton’s own war came to an end on 23 December 1944, when during the Battle of the Bulge, flying Typhoon MP189 on an armed recce in the Aachen - Blatzhed area, he led an RP attack on a train. Unfortunately his Typhoon was hit by fragments from the exploding train and he was forced to crash land behind German lines. Captured he spent the remainder of the war as a PoW. While the Typhoon could carry either 2 500/1000lb bombs or 8 Rockets (RP), most squadrons stuck to one type. While 247 (and 245) Squadron was one which specialised in RPs, and indeed Stapleton's own aircraft carried nose art depicting a fired rocket, I really wanted one of my Typhoons to be loaded with bombs and chose this most different of the two to have them. I also read of a the commander of one wing having two personal aircraft, one equipped with Rockets and the other with bombs, so in my imagination, this is what Stapleton has here 😊 I now have the rest of the D-Day Assault kit and diorama to build, together with the Spitfire from the Club D-Day Duo. I'll share these in another thread.

The one from the 2024 Airfix Club D-Day Duo set A73016 is complete ... This is finished out of the box as Typhoon MN625 MR-B of No.245 (Northern Rhodesian) Squadron, 83 Group, 121 Wing, 2nd TAF. RAF Holmsley South, Hampshire, 1944. MN625 joined the squadron as a replacement for MN377, an earlier “MR-B” lost south of Caen on D+1; it was flown by Fg.Off. W Smith who, a few days later, was the first Allied pilot to land at one of the Advance Landing Ground airfields in Normandy, in this case B5/Camilly which became the squadron’s operating base for the next two months before the Allied advance continued.

That’s OK and so very observant! There are actually a number of errors in Airfix’s colour plates on both kits. The Club D-Day Duo kit has it being with No.45 Squadron when it should be No.245 while the D-Day Air Assault Kit correctly has its Typhoon with No.247 Squadron, it wasn’t in June as quoted as it wasn’t present on D-Day because it was not delivered to the squadron until August, not flown by Stapleton until September and it wouldn’t have the suggested markings until probably October at the earliest 🤷‍♂️ I’m sticking to the Airfix plans though as each have their story to tell of both D-Day and the drive into Europe 😊

This is the other one … and now with decals 😊

Very true! These are two Airfix models using the same base kit but very different markings 😊

Thank you! I'm not allowed to say how many bands go all the way around, but I counted them all out, and I counted them all back 👌😂. More on that subject later 😊

I started this afternoon’s session thinking I’d try using the Airfix decals for the stripes, band and leading edge markings. As I progressed I thought better of it and got out the masking tape. I’ve never been able to get on with getting oversized decals to fit and stick on curved surfaces 🤷‍♂️ These have now had a coating of Klear ready for a few decals to be applied tomorrow.

My Airfix B-24 Liberator has landed! I have so many ideas on how I want to build this 😆

Snap! I suggested the very same thing. The cash Airfix could even get for the scrap may even pay for the envelopes & processing. Win win 😊

I’ve had a reply from our friends at Airfix: The concept of sprue recycling is something that has been looked into in the past and is being looked into again as I understand. There are various logistical complications with implementing such a scheme but the environment is something we wish to do our bit to protect. Kind Regards, Sam Coventon Hornby QC Team So thank you Sam, fingers crossed we hear something soon on this. I find it hard to ignore, in these days of greater environmental awareness, how the explosion we’ve seen in the numbers returning to this great hobby must be having an equally large down stream impact on our environment 😢

Back to the scale modelling and my duo of D-Day Typhoons! Schoolboy error resulted me fitting the rocket rails before adding the D-Day stripes so with a little application of liquid cement I’ve managed to remove the inner pair knowing that the slight damage will be covered once I’ve refitted them later. Before all that, I’ve masked up and added the ocean grey / dark green camouflage. Next up will be the white stripes and sky band … I think I’m going to have to top up on my masking tape!

Phew! I just qualify 😅 Thanks ☺️ Age Requirement: Participation in these forums is restricted to individuals who are 18 years of age or older. This ensures a mature and responsible community, aligned with UK standards and regulations

Doh! I didn’t see on the application form that we had to be grownups 🤦‍♂️😂 @John Symmons what a great collection! 👍 When I built Italeri’s Pegasus Bridge set up into a vast water and land based diorama, I was provided with 4 wonderful German guns to construct. Once built and not really knowing what to do next, I placed them almost out of shot in the trees, ready for the German counterattack. Having just deconstructed my diorama, maybe, I can make a more of them in the next one 🤔 😊

I find internet is a maze of rabbit holes and dead ends, and the quality of some sources can be suspect. The link to the source I shared earlier indicated that Warhammer have been recycling their polystyrene sprue since 2023. The British Plastics Federation announced in 2021 of INEOS having plans to set up the first European Polystyrene Recycling plant in 2023. Could the two events be connected? Maybe not, but food for thought. https://www.bpf.co.uk/article/ineos-styrolution-recycling-technologies-and-trinseo-progress-p-1902.aspx On their website, INEOS share their use of Depolymerisation, which in a world first INEOS has proven the concept for polystyrene. Depolymerisation is where polymers are recovered and separated from waste polystyrene then unzipped back to the starting monomers from which they were made. These can then be purified and repolymerised to make high purity virgin resin. It has demonstrated full circularity by depolymerising waste polystyrene back to styrene, then Repolymerising it to make products identical to fossil carbon-based materials. https://www.ineos.com/sustainability/circular-economy/recycling/# British Plastics Federation state that every type of plastic can be recycled … technically. But the extent to which they are recycled depends upon economic and logistical factors. INEOS report that one of the main bottlenecks, is the economic collection and recovery of sufficient volumes of plastic waste of the right quality. (Probably why Warhammer are only collecting in their own sprue, and Aylesbury Granulation Services talk of the specialist closed loop toll granulation service .. read on 😊) https://www.bpf.co.uk/Sustainability/Plastics_Recycling.aspx#4.2 Two companies I have found by quickly searching on the interweb are: Let’s Recycle, who say that after the polystyrene has been recycled, it can be given new life in manufacturing in a wide variety of products across various industries. https://www.letsrecycleit.eu/ps-polystyrene-recycling-uk/ And closer to home, Aylesbury Granulation Services have page on Plastic Sprue Recycling where, in addition to other services, they say they work with manufacturing companies who have waste plastics, in the form or sprue waste, lump waste, end of life or redundant stock waste, etc. Interestingly, because they know the specification of the plastic used in the original product, they like to have that material back for re-use in new manufacturing. This is closed loop toll granulation. https://www.agsplasticgranulation.co.uk/services/plastic-sprue-recycling/ Ergo, Polystyrene is recyclable … Over to you Airfix and the plastic experts, as I think us armchair scientists have probably reached our technical limit and understanding of the subject 😉

I do love those stands. I think they are inspired ☺️

Create an account, if you don’t already have one, and add one of these to Backorder. They are out of stock at the moment but the fact that you can put on in backorder normally means they are expecting more to come in stock at some time in the future. You could also naturally give them a call and see what the outlook may be 🤞😊 https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/FNCV0172

I guess it depends on the size of the runner. I can’t imagine the logistics of keeping bits of every kit, admittedly current ones, available for such things. One day I’m going to have to get to over to Margate and ask for a tour 😉

And I’m getting excited as mine will soon be on its way to me 😊

I’m all sorted guys, thanks @Captain.Glumbo .. I’m now very happy with my wheels up configuration and could very well have used all that spare sprue (which can’t be recycled - see separate thread 😉) to make a couple more struts should I have been that bothered but thanks, I do appreciate the suggestions ☺️ @Ratch , interestingly, when my Me410 canopy got damaged, the Airfix team did send me a whole new clear runner. I guess maybe they thought it was easier than sending just the part(s). 🤔

You’re right! And yes, that’s the one. A few extra pounds there but no p&p so about the same end price 👍