Tour de Airfix

I’m thinking I need to make a start on a D-Day 80 inspired build or two. On raiding my stash I’ve unearthed the D-Day Air Assult kit and naturally for us Airfix Club members, we have this year’s limited edition set including another Hawker Typhoon and PR Spitfire. I remember first making the Typhoon together with a little pink PR Spitfire as one of my lockdown projects 4 years ago, so I’m having a bit of a deja vu moment here 😊 Is anyone else planning on doing something for the D-Day anniversary?

Thank you. Airfix have created a great kit here. 👍

Finished! B-17G #42-31534 "Shilaylee" as flown by Lt. Mark Roberts of 349th BS/100th BG while based at Thorpe Abbotts in February 1944. Now time to find a suitable stand 😁

One thing I have now realised about this wheels up Airfix B-17 is that it has no crew! I guess it will be a conversation starter if nothing else 😂

I’m thinking I may be at the stage now of having to clear out a load of my older builds. As you say, they do get knocked and damaged and I’ve had the enjoyment of building and displaying them. It would be nice for there to be a second hand market for such things as I’m sure a child would be happy to have one or two to play with … that said all those small breakable parts maybe a major health and safety issue these days 😳 I see a big black bag heading this way sometime soon 😂

Now this has become a very interesting thread for my current predicament ... how to mount a wheels up 1/72 scale B-17 Flying Fortress. I have both the Dogfight Double black two pronged stand that I can repurpose, but it looks as though it would just fold up under the weight. And I have a set of the clear old style stands, but do I want to cut a slot along the underside seam ... will this itself just break apart under the weight. What a dilemma 😳

Oddly, I would normally have done just that, in a heartbeat! It would, I agree, have been relatively easy. I'm quite keen on repairing with sprue and wire, indeed one of the propeller shafts broke in fitting and so I've drilled, threaded and glued a length of fuse wire across the break and amazingly it still spins. I think, having just completed the Academy kit wheels down, and where its struts were so fine that they were broken on the sprue and I had quite a job to fix due to them being slightly load bearing, I thought 🤷‍♂️ I give up, someone wants me to build a B-17 wheels up and as this time Airfix, at least, is giving me this out of the box option, I'll go for it. My issue now, is how to display it? What stand will hold that weight and still look good ... 🤦‍♂️

I've recently returned from helping a family member move house and in the 'for disposal' pile what should I find but the little Airfix Starter Set of the Boulton Paul Defiant. This was one of the multitude of Airfix kits I gifted to all my family and friends one Christmas after settling on this as a theme for that year's festive gifts! I do love a theme. P.S. I also found the socks from the following year! 😂 So, my latest acquisition is now this Airfix Boulton Paul Defiant, the British aircraft with the most claimed kills per squadron at Dunkirk - 53 versus 28 for the Spitfire and 20 for the Hurricane. This was possibly the second model I built on my return to 'full time' scale modelling in June 2020 and which I still have gathering dust in my collection. Back then I used a brush and Humbrol enamel paints while sat at the dining room table. I'm just itching now to see what I can do with this lovely little kit from my purpose built loft workshop with acrylic pigments, clear canopy glue and an airbrush 😊

It has really surprised me as to how much scale modelling has taken over my life since the 2020 lockdown and now retirement. Indeed, when I stopped working for a living, slightly earlier than planned, I had a dream of being commissioned to build scale models. My donations to and subsequent volunteering as scale model builder for a WW2 Airfield Museum gave me an insight into how this could play out. I then picked up a ‘patron’ who wanted to complete his aircraft collection without having to construct them himself. This has, however, opened a real can of worms for me. Just as the innocence in Garden of Eden was ended by the eating of an apple, the taking of shilling for building a model has done similar for me! I’m finding commission modelling, whether it be ‘free gratis’ to a museum or for a small return for a friend, too much like work. All the usual stresses of wanting to do a good job, finish on time and please the customer, have sadly started to take away the pleasure and reason for me picking up the hobby in the beginning. For me the objective of my scale modelling is an insatiable thirst for knowledge and creativity. I just love exploring and researching the backstory to every kit I build. My book collection is now equally as extensive as my stash level! And the kits I build, according to my Scalemates stash statistics, span all genre, manufacturers and releases, from the 1960s to the latest. I certainly don't feel the need to build the latest. My only challenge, ignoring the frequent calls on me to undertake a commission, is what to do with my completed kits. Since May 2000, I've amassed a plastic mountain of almost 300 kits! 🤦‍♂️

What a dilemma! Airfix have created undercarriage for this B-17 which look absolutely superb on paper but have provided me with half of the struts not fully extruded. Just look at parts G27 & G28 😢 So, while these are also used in the wheels up configuration they are in this case neither structural nor really visible, so wheels up we go! 🤷‍♂️

The Airfix kit is truly excellent, I can’t recommend it enough. I may also have seen that I’ve also built the Academy B-17F which was OK but showing it’s age. If you enjoy “Masters of the Air” I also recommend Donald Miller’s book of the same name. It will really fill in many of the gaps left by the series which obviously had to race through the story.

After yesterday's April Fool post ... we really must have the paper plane. I'd love to have this on my desk! 😀

My favourite bit .. a little weathering and the removal of masking to reveal, hopefully, shiny clear glazing! Next, it's time to add all those fiddly bits!

Following my visit to Thorpe Abbotts in Suffolk last year ... yes, long before I learned from Steven and Tom of their "Masters of the Air" Apple TV series ... I had planned to build a B-17 in the colours of a 'B****y Hundred' squadron. So, my Airfix Fortress is receiving not just an olive drab scheme, but also an after market set of decals ....

Rigging has always been my nemesis but I’m still learning to overcome my fear of it 😂 I have a specific aircraft I’d like to build. It was one flown by my maternal grandmother’s fiancée just before the outbreak of WW2. While I have loads of correspondence surrounding him and his involvement, I still have a bit of research to do on identifying the correct markings and scheme. Do you know any history behind your aircraft? I do love a backstory 😊

That looks wonderful 👌 I may have to have a go at one of these myself now!

I must admit, more recently I’ve purchased more Airfix kits direct from Airfix rather than retailers, on-line or local. With the new Club Membership discounts and endless sales, it’s hard to find a better deal elsewhere. This is a marked change from a year or so ago.

Looks amazing. But just to prove you can’t please everyone all of the time, I wish this had been re-tooled in 1:72 scale. 🤦‍♂️

I took a few shots of the C-47 in the museum at Sainte-Mère-Église last year. The lighting was not great but, if you zoom in, it looks interior green to me 😊

That’s a real Bocage scene 👌

Finally, as I've built the Academy B-17F to the same stage as my Airfix B-17G, its time to paint! I'm happy that the multiple layers of grey primer I've used will be more than suitable for the underside of this pre natural metalled finished Fortress that 'all' I need to add is the olive drab to the upper surfaces. It's just amazing, however, just how much masking these aircraft need and how long it takes. I've still yet to fit the wings as I've found masking and painting the fuselage so much easier with them out of the way. I'll probably fit them next so that I can get on adding all the fiddly bits.

Well, I think Michael Clegg has done a fantastic job with this, Issue 10, release of our Airfix Club Magazine. I sadly have to confess to having given past editions just a cursory flick through but I’ve never been so absorbed in the magazine as I was this morning over my coffee and cornflakes! When, earlier this year, I received my Club Limited Edition D-Day Duo kits, I must also confess to being a little disappointed. Having built so many Airfix Spitfires over the years and even having the XIX and a Typhoon in my stash, I was hoping for something very different. However, on reading Michael’s article and the reason behind Airfix selecting these aircraft, I’m sold. They are indeed going to be a great addition to my collection. Coincidentally, I am currently reading Taylor Downing’s book “Spies in the Sky” and have just reached the chapter on D-Day in which both these aircraft are given a major shout for their role in the success of the landings. Then Michael includes an extensive piece, building on his Workbench blogs, on the soon to be released B-24 Liberator, a kit I can’t wait to get my hands on! Hats off, Michael … the best magazine in my extensive Club magazine collection 👍

Thank you 🙏 I’ve paused a bit at the moment, as while I was waiting for a little bit of filler to dry, I went and made a start on the Academy B-17F and now have this idea in my head of getting them both to the same level 🤷‍♂️ The quality of the Academy kit isn’t a patch on Chris Joy’s design work, but then again the latter is based on a 1980s mould. I should have these two at the same level soon and will then be able to share updates 😊

I have to confess, the Trent Lifeboat has been the only kit I’ve ever not wanted to finish and it did indeed end up in the bin! I thought the RNLI had at least received a donation from me when I made the purchase 🤦‍♂️

Oh, I’m so looking forward to this one landing. Designed by our highly experienced Chris Joy, who coincidentally also designed the 1:72 scale Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress which I am currently working on, I can only imagine what a great kit this is going to be!