Dominic Thomas

It does look good and it would be great to see more pictures. Have you thought about rigging?

The Bulldog has to be the stand out release for me. Three markings options with one being No. 3 Squadron. Excellent. My other purchase will be the second long awaited release of the Beaufort. About time.

Good point Randall. In fact, I was thinking that I needed to see if any kit review confirmed or not a complete rerelease. I really don’t need to add to my half dozen in the stash without a significant improvement in design and moulding. Of course, this comment is confined to the 2024 release of the Hampden and not the 2024 list as a whole.

The 2024 new release list does indeed include a Hampden - as a Vintage Classic ! Oh dear. Careful what you wish for I suppose.

Cheers, Randall. It is indeed a coincidence. It’s a quality aircraft used around the world by a number of countries. Be nice if Airfix produced a mark I to current standards.

Here, the Fairey Firefly Mark I from Smer (ex Frog). This kit included a vacform canopy which while delicate and requiring careful preparation, was a big improvement on the injection moulded items from these old moulds. The markings come from the Printscale sheet and I wasn’t too happy with the thickness of the underwing serials. I also made a mess of the painting of the Sky colour. Still, here it is ….

I thought this post might benefit from a picture I found recently. It shows two F-35Bs. The closest one being a relatively recent delivery coded ZM158/024, and the furthest being from the first few deliveries coded ZM140/006. The point is that the panels to which you refer are very prominent on the oldest airframe, yet hardly visible on the most recent. Perhaps the earliest kits with the prominent panels should only be used for older airframes, if the modeller is not going to remove the panels ….

Alternatively, both the Army and Navy Lynx instructions are on scalemates.com

Not my favourite version but I love the finish and the detail. Very well done.

And the last for this year, the Wyvern ….

The Frog Sea Fury Mark X. The black and white stripes were painted - spraying the white was a rattle can then brush painting the black. I always find it difficult to make (in this case) all 5 stripes of equal width.

Very impressive. I like the Mirage III and especially the ‘c’ version. I remember the Aeronauts although I would have struggled to name the series in a pub quiz. I too was glued to the tv when it was shown. Thanks for bringing back fond memories.

The Airfix Firefly V. This a lesson in why you should not use really old transfer sheets with white stripes. I’ll try to paint the stripes on the next one.

I had always wanted to build a collection of models of Fleet Air Arm aircraft. When storage space became hard to come by, the folding wings of the navy aircraft helped considerably. I also wanted to see what the models looked like against a Coastal Models background - not an easy thing to juggle with to produce a top notch effect, but better than the kitchen worktop. As usual, all models were built straight from the box with no additional extras. The first two are old Frog models. The Gannet was the one with the ‘integral crew’. I was surprised at how much the ancient design of this was disguised by extensive use of black paint. Anyway, here’s the first of several pics on this theme. Hope you enjoy, and best wishes for the New Year.

A Matchbox Halifax BI. All kits have been made straight from the box. Most of those shown have been made for the first time. Once I know the pitfalls and limitations, I will add improvements when I’m ready to build a second one.

Thanks Randall. What d’ya know, I don’t have a camouflaged one, yet. I think we’ll both be rectifying that omission.

Speaking of Matchbox, here’s the Halifax BII

Looks good, Matthias. Nice to see an alternative tug scheme. I think Revell took over the Frog moulds. Next, a couple of Gladiators. A Heller option (80 Sqn) with stretched sprue rigging and a Matchbox option (3 Sqn - Green bars) with elastic thread rigging.

Cheers Ratch. Much appreciated, and I’ll look forward to the target tug. Here below is the 1/72 Frog Tomahawk, with a mixture of after market decals. Nowhere near as good as the Airfix model, but it’s now no longer in the stash!

Another ex-Frog, the Vultee Vengeance with Printscale decals of 82 Squadron.

Thanks everyone. It was the old Frog kit from Novo - sprues like tree trunks. Definitely a fight from start to finish.

Efforts completed as posted.

Here’s my attempt at the Airfix version. I made it in the markings of an early 11 Squadron machine fitted for air defence, as the kit came with missiles. Hence, minimal outlay. Hope you like it.

Hasegawa probably do the best option in 1/72. From a layman’s point of view, the airframe looks good and there’s a good selection of weapons including ASRAAM, Brimstone, Storm Shadow, and Meteor. A cheaper alternative is the Revell single seater but you would need to buy RAF-specific weapons separately.

Consistently good. And a fascinating design. Almost a case of “We’ll have a go at this single wing lark, but we’ll keep the struts.”