John Symmons

Thank Tour De Airfix, nice and interesting diorama the only problem I've found is photographing dioramas to show everything in focus, look's like the American armour on the road could be in for some trouble Thanks for posting and hopefully we can see more of your efforts. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

My Gun Collection. Part two. Revell. Like Airfix Revell really need no introduction except to say they really do have a diverse catalogue everything from North-sea oil wells to WW1 aircraft perhaps their greatest failing is their equally diverse scales, except these days their aircraft and cars are now in the usual common scales but their ships are all over the place, and their armour can be a bit iffy. As for armour they seemed to have kept out of the 1/35 scale unless they reissue some ancient kit from some obscure American manufacture, their main focus seems to be 1/72 and 1/76 these last ones being the old Matchbox models. A few years ago, they surprised everyone by suddenly releasing some new 1/72 armour kits, and even more surprising two artillery pieces the 210mm Morser and the 88mm AA gun together with the18-ton SD Kfz 9 Framo half-track. I’ve built the Morser and Framo and mounted them in a diorama so the photos of the 210mm Morser canon include bits of the diorama. I’ve yet to start the 88 as to be honest it scares me as does the Hasagawa 600mm Mortar Karl. When making the 210 Morser 18 model I almost ruined it on the fourth step when I glued part five the wrong way round this only becoming apparent in step 23 when fitting the gun barrel. Lesson learnt; always check with instructions, and then check again, especially when making complicated kit’s (re: over engineered) like these. Painting this model can also be a challenge as it’s best done in stages, like ships. The diorama uses bits of Airfix, ESCI, Hasagawa, Zvezda and some railway OO wooden fencing which I think was from Pico, and of course the focus being on the two Revell kits. Leaving camp diorama. 219mm Morser 18. You can see how the camouflage hides the massive gun. To really get the size of the Framo check the size of the driver figure against the side of the truck. Roden. This Ukrainian company’s earlier models all tended to be very softly molded some-what resembling short run molds. I reckon their box-art is some of the best in the business. Initially they concentrated on 1/72 WW1 aircraft, but soon added other scales of 1/48, 1/32 and the 144 that are mainly very popular for airliners and a few bigger aircraft like the B36; many of their 1/72 WW1 aircraft being releasee in the two bigger scales. They also started a 1/72 armour series and a 1/35 range. The 1/72 series is now quite extensive covering both WW1 and WW2, but with only one tank, the rest being semi-armoured and soft-skinned subjects with some making into very good little models, like the Opel Blitz bus command vehicle. If your thing is small scale armour it’s worth giving them a look-see, but they are not for the novice, or for a quick week-end builder. Roden have only released two proper artillery kits the Pak 40 and the WW1 BL-9 8-inch howitzer Mk.VI with limber and the FWD model B3 towing truck in US expeditionary force 1918 colours, neither of these two I’ve started. The Pak 40 being the first Roden kit I brought, but I got side tracked with WW1 aircraft, and the WW1 three colour camouflage is a bit daunting. I’ve included the Vomag truck with a mounted 88mm Flak 36 AA gun as this has recently been released by Das-Werks, I thought the small-scale armour modelers might be interested. Vomag 660 truck with 88mm Flak 36 AA gun. Zvezda. All I know about Zvezda is that it’s a Russian company that again has quite a diverse catalogue, but mainly aircraft including, obviously, Russian subjects in 1/72 and 1/48 both WW2 and modern jets. They also market a war gaming system called ‘The Art of Tactic, it’s this system that includes the 1/72 military models. I found them quite by accident and brought one to try as they were very cheap, the German machine gunners. I was a bit doubtful opening the kit, very few parts, and a push fit, but not in that horrible soft vinyl plastic that won’ glue or take paint this was proper styrene, and the model has a proper little base to mount he model on, almost like the old Matchbox kits. Simply put I was so impressed that the following day I drove back to the model shop and virtually cleared them out of WW2 German kits. They might be simple gaming kits, but they are the complete opposite of the Roden kits above and the quality of the detail and fit is second-to-none. It’s a great pity that they are now virtually banned in the western market, hopefully they’re still in business. German 105 Howitzer & crew as a game piece. German 105 Howitzer & crew without the gaming flag. German Flak 36-37 88mm AA gun the spare shells and casings are from the Hasagawa kit. After the Hasagawa kit, if you can find it, I’d say this is probably the best Flak 36 on the on the market. Certainly, the best for ease of build and price. German Pak 40 Anti-tank gun in winter camouflage as a game piece. German Pak 40 Anti-tank gun with crew in winter camouflage without the gaming flag. Soviet 61-K AA Gun and crew. This is one of my favorites in this series. I still have the Hasagawa 600mm Morter on the rail transporter, Roden’s Pak 40 anti-tank gun, Revell’s scary Flak 36 AA gun and a Zvezda’s British 40mm Bofors AA gun waiting in the stash, and I must look-out for the Airfix models mentioned before. Hope you have enjoyed this trip down memory lane and maybe inspired some-one to look for some different models. Let's just hope this up-loads properly. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom.

OK: If the adjudicators cpo0uld delete the whole post I''ll re-post it with everything in it's proper place and any offencive words removed. Previously, directly after posting the poster was given a short time to correct or edit any mistakes would it be possible to re-instate that feature? And I thought this was a modeling forum where we often dealt with history and historical fact and historical figures after all is Paul Potts .Stalin or even Oliver Cromwell deemed offensive. Yes German WW2 aircraft and armour often had swastikas on them as part of their livery but so did Finland It was actually their recognition symbol, also in WW1 some Royal Flying Corp also had then painted on the sides, historical facts. Please don't let this forum go woke and try and re-write history. End of mini-rant, and remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Something weird has gone asque with the photos and text with this posting like why is the text red and some photos are out of place. Hopefully part 2 will be better. Why if something is working well like to old posting system someone has to break it and try for something better and usually fails If it's working it doesn't need fixing. It's taken me cover six hours to post this and that was prepping all the photos beforehand and writing out and proof reading all the text before hand REmember we TRY and do this for fun John the Pom.

My Gun Collection. I’ve always had a fascination for models of big artillery guns. One of my very early models (late 50’s) was a 1/35 scale?? of the American 8-inch howitzer artillery Long Tom gun from Aurora or Renwall, I think the company also made the Ontos. Then in the 80’s I came across the Hasagawa Mini-Box range of 1/72 armour that also had the American 8-inch gun and the 88mm German AA gun both of which are very good little models especially the 8-inch gun, and I still maintain that in the 1/72 scale, even today the Hasagawa model is still the best bang-for-buck model of these two kits, the only one coming close being the Zvezda Art-of-tactic version, the Revell one being way too pricy and grossly over engineered. Since then, I’ve discovered other makes like Ace, Revell, Roden, and Zvezda all have an artillery piece somewhere in their range. I haven’t included any tanks or self-propelled armour as this collection is really only towed artillery pieces. Ace This is a short run model company, often doing odd or unusual subjects not found in the main stream. They are not for the novice and can be over engineered in places and their instructions and paint guides can be, to put-it-nicely, confusing. German WW2 version of the French LaFH-16 105mm howitzer & limber. The mystery gun in the middle is a Hat model of ?? WW1 gun in soft rubbery plastic (Not recommended.) German WW2 version of the French LaFH-16 105mm howitzer & limber. The mystery gun in the middle is a Hat model of ?? WW1 gun in soft rubbery plastic (Not recommended.) Another LaFH-16 105mm Howitzer including the limber used by the Americans in WW1. Pity no horses were included. Model finished as a museum display piece. The first of two German 88mm anti-tank guns with a simplified four wheeled chassis and then a two wheeled version. Both worth building if you don’t mind a challenge German Pak 43-41 88 mm Neuntoter German Pak 43-41 88 mm Scheunentor Airfix needs no introduction. I’ve currently only got two models by Airfix one is a very ancient model I believe it’s even painted with Humbrol enamel paints. The Pak 40 was the German anti-tank of WW2 especially the early part of WW2, Airfix modelled this paired with the Blitz truck. I know the truck has some accuracy issues, but as a kit it was an enjoyable build and I was very tempted to by a second one when it was re-released a few years back. The Bofors 40mm AA gun & Morris tractor was made so long ago that I can’t say much about it, but at least it’s survived 30 plus years. One of the better things these older Airfix models have, is that there’s crew included, which these days is quite rare only Zvezda seems to be doing it now. Back in the day ESCI (now Italeri.) Hasagawa, and Matchbox all used to supply some crew, and or driver, ESCI even with their tanks, pity it seems to have fallen away. Another thing is it’s a real shame no one has copied the Matchbox initiative of including some sort of diorama base. I really must look at getting the other Airfix models that include an artillery gun like the Matador and 5.5-inch gun, Bren gun carrier and the Field gun and Q British Bofors 40mm AA gun with Morris towing tractor with very novice painting Humbrol enamels in some sort of, what I thought at the time was a desert scheme??? I even did the 8-inch American gun in the same colours??? German Pak 40 with Opal Blitz truck. ESCI This was an Italian model company that made some cutting-edge models of their day many of which are still being re-released today as they were that good. They made quite an extensive range of armour that is often re-released by Italeri. The only one piece of artillery of theirs that I can find was the Nebelwerfer 41 rocket & smoke unit. This model came with two Nebelwerfer units and a complete crew in German winter camouflage dress. I’ve only made one of them the other is still all on the sprue and I’ve somehow still got the crew. Again, finished with enamels, and rather crudely painted so don’t look too closely. German Nebelwerfer 41 rocket & smoke unit. Hasagawa This is a Japanese company, and are right up there was Tamiya. In their 1983 catalogue there are 35 models in their mini-box range of 1/72 armour including many semi-armoured and soft skinned models with some real oddities like the Toyota truck (pick-up) with a starter attachment for starting the Ki 43 Hayabusa with a dog-tooth on the spinner and a bomb dolly with bomb, a Stuart Mk1 tank with a horse and rider??, Hitler’s 6 wheeled Mercedes staff-car, and both field camp and check-point sets and 1/72 models of the 600mm Mortar Karl and the Leopold rail gun. The Mortar and rail gun shouldn’t really be called a mini box. American US 155mm ‘Long Tom’ canon in dodgy paint scheme. German Pak 41 88 mm AA gun painting getting better colours still a bit iffy. Now if only these could be re-released I’d re-do them properly. German Pak 41 88 mm AA gun painting getting better colours still a bit iffy. American US 155mm ‘Long Tom’ canon in dodgy paint scheme. Now if only these could be re-released I’d re-do them properly. Nichimo. Not much known about this company except it was Japanese, but is no-long in business, the little anti-tank gun was part of another model but I’ve forgotten what it was as only this little gun has survived. Again, in the same dodgy desert colours. I think the gun was a 30mm and was a lighter version of the Pak 40. Please correct me if I’m wrong as I’d really like to know. German 30mm?? anti-tank gun. Part two to follow. REmember we do this for fun John the Pom

Thank Dominic for the zoomed in picture that looks much better. it's just in the original picture I was looking at the navigator is more prominent than the partially obscured pilot. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

I've just been looking at the Airfix art work for the original release of the new tooled Mosquito art-work, and noticed that the pilot is on the wrong side, he seems to be sitting in the starboard side where-as the pilot always occupies in the port seat. I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this? Remember we do this for fun John the Pom.

:Whoop! I'll start again. Oh! i see my post above has bee redacted for seemingly promoting other brands. I'm sorry that you think that, as I've seen other brands high-lighted or featured in this forum . All I was trying to suggest to 18F was that I know airfix has two scales of armour kits. And that the newer kits were all 1/72 scale and that the Revell / Matchbox tie-in suffers with the same problem of having two scales. For some reason i felt 18f was quite a new member which i was wrong in assuming as he has over 4000 posts. I them tried to inform 18f of other 1/72 manufacturers of 1/72 armour that are not that common and a bit esoteric or unusual and or hard to find like the old ESCI and HASA Mini-Box seres all of which do pop-up from time to time. Not one of the main manufactures really concentrates on the brail scale armour Arguably the two biggest being Dragon from China, and Roden from the Ukraine. Some kits from the later can be a bit of a challenge, but worth the effort. Hopefully there's a model shop near you that you can rummage around in you never know what you'll find. many of the old Airfix 1/76 vehicles can still be used if kept in the distance on dioramas to give a false perspective. IO see there's a post on this forum requesting posting of members 1/72 vehicles, Think i'll have to dig out some of my more unusual model and give them some light. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Oh! i see my post above has bee redacted for seemingly promoting other brands. I'm sorry that you think that, as I've seen other brands high-lighted or featured in this forum . All i was rying to sujest to 18F that i know airfix has two scales of armour kits

Hi 18F The older Airfix armour models (basically those before 2000) were all 00 or 1;76 scale, today they are sold as Vintage Classics, and should be marked with the tooling date and the correct scale of 1/76 or 00 (HO scale is about 1/87) The modern Airfix small armour and airfield vehicle sets are a true 1/72, but at the moment really only consists of a few tanks, and the airfield accessory sets, Airfix seeks to be concentrating on the 1/35 scale. Also be careful as the old Matchbox kits were also 1/76 and are sometimes released by Revell and marked 1/72 although Revell has now released some of their own proper 1/72 armour kits. Redacted as it breaks site rules about promoting other brands. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom.

Build them: Build them. Maybe just put some decent wheels on them and modern couplings, but build them and run them, they're fun. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom.

Hi Dudley. Welcome to the forum, good to see you're keeping on trucking. I know something of what you've gone through so glad to know you're getting back to your normal self. Good job on the Police car and the Spitfire and hopefully we'll soon see some more future results in the not too distant future. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi Null-Null98. Welcome back to the hobby. Airfix recommend Matt Black for the hull colour. Having built two of these kits in both liveries matt black might be correct but personally I feel it's a bit harsh and would benefit with some toning down similar to modelling night fighters but maybe not as much. You could try Model Air Panzer dark grey and / or Dark grey blue either separately or mixed. in the Model Colour range try Black grey, German dark grey, Dark blue grey and Dark sea green, Experiment with these and I'm sure you'll find just the right shade that looks just right. I've made two of these 1/72 Airfix boats, the E-Boat and the RAF Rescue launch and really enjoyed both. Both being excellent kits that belie their age, and make up into superb models even by todays standards, I'm still looking for the MTB. The kits also have arguably the best crew figures that Airfix have ever produced, and it's worth spending that little bit extra time on them with the paint brush, it can make a huge difference. Hope this is helpful and looking forward to seeing the completed model. Remember we do this for fun. John the Pom

Hi Darcy. I know I’m a bit late replying to your post about jigs or building stands. I have one of the bigger stands like the one shown and initially found it very cumbersome especially for the smaller 1/72 models like WW1 & 2 fighters. I did use it on a twin engined model (Potez 63:II) and found it helped with painting the French 3 colour camouflage, and applying the decals but that was about all. The main problem I found was they’re a bit fiddly to set up correctly and as the model only just sits on top the model can move when least expected. The jig makers expect you to hold the model in place with rubber bands which I find can leave marks and the model can still move. Also, the whole contraption takes up a lot of space on what is usually a cramped or cluttered modelling bench. Also, they are useless for bi-planes. What I have found useful for the smaller 1/72 models is an old 400- or 500-gram plastic jar, like a peanut butter jar, fill it with water, screw the lid on tightly, then mount your model onto the lid with blue-tack, sticky putty or something similar. This will hold the model quite firmly for most tasks you might do, I’ve even used it hold a WW1 model for rigging. If using this type of jig, it’s better to use before adding the undercarriage. I’ve even had a model mounted in this fashion for over a year sitting in the Cape Town sun, and it came off relatively easily without any damage to the paint work. See photo below: Hope you find this useful and look forward to seeing some of your finished models. Remember we do this for fun. John the Pom

Hi John. "What do you use to protect the ink on the decal? I have found that Klear dissolves printer ink run. Do you coat them before or after applying to the model?" I usually coat the decals with liquid decal film using a brush although i have used Vallejo satin varnish with equally good results. With liquid decal film (It's made by the same people who make the Micro sol & Micro set solutions) just be careful not to over-coat too far from the decal edge otherwise you'll have to trim the extra film from around the decal. Once applied the decal can be sealed in the usual way. Hope this helps. Remember we do this for fun. John the Pom

Hi Darcy. there are several ways of doing this the best being with a jug problem is getting set up properly and ensuring the fuselage / bottom wing do not move. the old fashioned way is gluing all the struts onto the assembled fuselage / bottom wing using a slowly setting glue like the tube glue of one of the liquid glues such as Revell Contacta which should give you about an hours wriggle time, after about half an hour add glue to the top wing attachment points and add this to the fuselage / bottom wing one strut at a time. when all are in [place just hold the whole assembly until it becomes self supporting ensuring the top wing is correctly lined up with the bottom wing. Very fiddly but it can be done. That's how i did it back in the late 50's. Do not try this with the Extra Thin types of glue as they evaporate too fast. These days I usually use a half jig mainly the either the fuselage etc or the inverted top wing firmly in place then attach the cabane in place (these are the small central struts that hold the top wing to the fuselage) to this held piece using the the other piece as a jig to get correct alinement. Leave at least 24 hours to set then join the top wing to the fuselage, again ensuring correct alinement, once self supporting again leave to set. Once set you can add the interplane struts (these are the bigger struts that go between the upper and lower wings.) by carefully springing the wings apart and adding the strut gluing it in place. remember to add these struts symmetrically, and ensuring a good firm paint-free joint. This method works fine with the smaller WW1 biplanes, but with the larger and later biplanes it is then really advisable to use some sort of adjustable jig. Some of the more modern biplane kits often have the the struts moulded in pairs to help get the correct stagger just dry-fit all parts to ensure the correct fitment. I didnt do this with the Airfix BE2 and now I,ve got myself into right pickle the upper and lower wings are assembled and now I have to scratch the cabane struts and somehow attach these. Anyway I hope this helps and good luck and would love to see how your biplane turned out. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom. PS. If you want a cheap way to hold a small model firmly, just find a largish stable (wide base) plastic jar with a lid, Fill jar with water, screw on lid, put a large blob of that tacky putty (Blue or white tack) on the lid then squash your model, preferably without undercarriage attached, and this should hold your model firmly enough to even do rigging and once finished the model can be gently pulled free without damaging the paint finish. If any tacky putty remains just keep dabbing it with the sticky putty and I'll come off. I've used this several times, and even left a model stuck to the jar for months, and in the sun, and it still came free without any damage. Remember we do this for fun JtP.

I just wish they'd re-release this older Mossy kit. Remember we do this for fun JtP

Hi Tomek. Nice Mossy the figures sort-of give it some life. Hopefully you'll soon be building the new release. I built the Mk XVII Tsetse several years back from the same tooling as your NF Mk 2, and I've seen this old Airfix model displayed next to the Tamiya 1/72 model, and to be honest except that the Tamiya one is a bomber, it's not that easy to tell them apart. I just wish I'd brought more of this molding as it gave you 3 variants had the correct crew complement, the undercarriage could be built in the same manner as the new release and the wing / fuselage join was a thing of beauty. It Even had the grooved tailwheel. All it really needed was a better canopy. I'm still waiting for the new release to reach Cape Town. Below are two photos of my Mk XVII as the one from my build posting have gone missing. Remember we do this for fun. John the Pom

Great to see some of these vintage classics being re-released, also Airfix again going very left-field with their choices of subjects, like the Artic Auster and the SRN1 hovercraft (you can't get further left-field than the SRN1). The hovercraft was even left-field when originally released, it might not have been ever ones choice, but it did initially sell by the bucket load, probably because it was simply Airfix, as boys back then collected Airfix irrespective of the subject, as I suspect they still do to this day, but at the time it was very relevant and a lot was expected of it. Another British first, but alas! One thing both these kit did is made us modelers, slash, aviation enthusiasts aware that there was more to aviation than just WW1 biplanes, Spitfires Hurricanes and Messerschmitts. I do fondly remember building both these kits especially the Auster and especially with the choice of undercarriage, great idea back then. I'm very tempted to get three of them to make all three versions. Two other recent vintage classic releases I was very tempted with and, actually make up into beautiful little models, are the Hs 123 (see my review Bully Boys from several years ago) and the 1930's Bristol Bulldog biplane, thoroughly recommended. So Airfix keep up the good work and the surprizes, shades of the beginning of the month in the 50's and 60's when Airfix would release a new model every month without giving any prior notice of the subject matter; surprize surprize. I still remember the anticipation of the 1 hour walk to Woolworths; to save the bus fair; in case the new model was a 3/- series 2; to see what Airfix had given us this month. I'm still waiting for the re-release of the Hawker Hart, as there's a definite dearth of late 1920's and 1930's aircraft (Except from Heller) so how about a re-release of the SB4a and the DH 88 or even better a retooling especially the 88, both these aircraft being essential to the development of the Spitfire and the Mosquito. Still we can live in hope and look forward to some more surprises. Oh! The anticipation!. It's almost giving me a heart attack just thinking about it. Remember we do this for fun. John the Pom

Hi Andy. One way I recently used on an old Frog (Ex Hasagawa) kit of the Nakajima G8N1 Rita was to tape the main fuselage, wings engines main undercarriage legs etc together, carefully balance a styrene foam cup on the nose section and start adding weights to the cup until the model stopped sitting on its tail then weigh the amount of weight needed. In this case the model needed a lot of weight. I think it was somewhere around four ouches (+/-100 grams). I used some old lead solder and some 5mm ball bearings (available from cycle repair shops) and fixed it all inplace with an acrylic tile cement. I had to have weight in the nose, after adding a what-if interior, the engine cowlings and the front bomb-bay. It worked but only just the model now weighs almost 200 grams and i reckon over half of that is nose weight. I've added some photos of the weights, I know it looks a mess but once it's covered up the model came out OK and is no longer a tail sitter. Weights in the cowling, the nose and behind the cockpit, and again in the nose, the round blobs are the 5mm ball-bearings. Below all buttoned up and sitting as she should. Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

Hi KaleuNW. Just saw you asking about those long lost photos of my Airfix KG V build. i checked through the photos of my old models but no trace of KG V. so iu thought they were lost for good. Then I accidentally found a model related docs in my documents folder, then there was an XP files then a Built models folder and guess what? there were all the old photos of the KG V build posted above. I'll wont repost all the photos as to be honest I'm not too sure what goes where but I'll re-post the more salient ones. Firsly some views of the finished model. A few photos for comparison With the Airfix Graff Spee, HMS Manxman with HMS Campbell Town. I'll try and add of the detail photos tomorrow. Remember we do this for fun JtP

Hi null-null 98. I see you have the very early polybagged release of the Hannover, these date back to the mid to late 1960's and was released with the Rolland CL-II Walfisch which had a much more friendly paint scheme, and possibly include possibly the best WW1 figures Airfix produced I still have both of the models I brought from Jewell’s in Newquay Cornwell in the late 1960's, both priced at 2/9d; such is inflation. If you look closely at the wings of the Hannover you should find that the lozenge pattern has been lightly printed in the wings as a painting guide, don't try rubbing it as it does easily rubs off. This could help with the wings but not the fuselage. The other thing you could try if you have access to a decent photo editing software is to make your own decal for the lozenge pattern. The kit's instruction does have a printed template that if scanned and multiple copies used to enlarge the pattern, add the various colours, then get it laser printed at the highest colour density setting always print more than you’ll immediately need for any possible future projects. As these decals are not very opaque, only apply then over a light colour surface, preferably white, and either varnish them or use liquid decal film over the printed decal to stop the water from dissolving the print. I’ve used this method on several models of various WW1 1/72 Fokker aircraft by Revell, and Roden and included some photos of the results. Roden Fokker D VI and D VII Revell Fokker D VII Roden Fokker EV or D VIII I hope this helps And looking forward to seeing the completed Hannover. Remember we do this for fun. JtP

Davie I couldn’t agree with you more, it was always one of the main selling po9ints of all the early Airfix aircraft kits, OK maybe some of those early figures left a lot to be desired, like Jimmy Goggles a very underweight pilot with huge goggles. (See the early Airfix WW1 models, or virtually anything from the 50’s.) Airfix did improve even if they were a bit generic. At least they sort-of looked the part which is more than could be said for the He 177 crew who looked a bit like 1950’s space-men, and let’s face it when installed in the cockpit with the thick canopies of the era you couldn’t see much anyway. To me the best figures figures Airfix produced were the one in the 1/72 boats, the “E” boat and the “RAF rescue launch” easily being up to the Revell standard, who were once regarded as having some of the best 1/72 scale figures. The other good figure set was with the DH Heron including two or three passengers and an air-hostess plus civilian cockpit crew. Were these still included with the recent re-release? With the modern detailed cockpits, and open canopies, not including pilots could possibly be excused, but with the myriad of other optional parts being included, (Which I’m sure must add to the cost, although the cost of the plastic is negligible, and does add to more unused plastic.) especially the open or closed canopies, and in-flight options not offering pilots seems to be cutting-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face. One of the main problems I see is trying to get the uniforms right. The European and U.S. were all a much of a likeness that just painting the flight overall would probably be sufficient, just remember there weren’t that many 6’ pilots and those that were often found themselves flying the roomier bombers. See Sailor Malan who preferred the Hurricane as he found the spitfire to cramped for his 6-foot frame. The same thing applied the allies testing Japanese aircraft that many of the allied pilots found the Japanese aircraft very cramped. As a side note; this was still true when Japanese cars started being imported to the Europe in the 1960’s that the original Datsun’s and Toyotas where very cramped, especially if the driver was over 5’8”. If you compare the figures in the Hasagawa big flying boats and the G4M Betty bomber to those supplied with the Airfix Zero and the B5N Kate you’ll find they are substantially smaller and do not use a May-West, but had a completely different type of life vest, which is probably why the now standard Airfix WW2 pilot doesn’t fit into the Zero cockpit. I can’t comment on the Kate as it’s still waiting in the stash, but one thing I have noticed is that two crew seem to be the standard Airfix figure, but the third in the rear gunner’s position is different with a much slimmer body and legs??. The modern Airfix figures are a far cry from those used even a few decades ago and they have even produced some very nice multi-posable figures, see the new Ju 87 Stuka and the Me 110 being two that I’ve come across. And for WW1, crew the figures supplied with Hannover CL IIIa, and the Roland C-II are brilliant as are the figures in the Handley Page 0/400, personally I feel the figures in the far newer B.E. 2c are not as good as the previous ones I’ve mentioned. Now if only Airfix could combine these figures with some ground crew and an officer or two plus some horse drawn carts and equipment I’m sure they’d sell by the bucket load, especially with the recent re-assurgency of WW1 aviation. If the rumor Davie mentioned is true, then hopefully the terrible RAF and Luftwaffe set in the awful soft vinyl type plastic will finally be retired for good, (I actually have two sets and one has so much flash it almost looks like it could be a vacuum formed.) and replaced by something more modern. If anyone is interested to see what can be done you can do far worse than the Luftwaffe Ground Crew set by Zvezda, OK it might be a push-fit gaming set, but it’s really good in fact when saw just how good it was, I promptly drove the over one hour there-and-back to Cape Town’s southern suburbs to get a another set, it might be 1/72 but I’m sure figure painters would have a ball, and it’s in proper hard styrene plastic. If you ever see this set, and you’re into WW2 Luftwaffe, don’t hesitate just grab it quick. One final thought why has the new tooling of the Mosquito only got one crew member, and an under-sized one at that, when the previous tooling, which incidentally had nothing wrong with it except for the canopy. The wing to fuselage fit was brilliant, easily up to Tamiya standard, and you got the chance to build 3 versions. Hopefully, all-though I doubt it, Airfix will re-release it with a new canopy, then we can build an intruder, the Mk VI night fighter, a Mk XVI bomber, a PR XVI photo reconnaissance and the anti-shipping Mk VIII with the big canon. Now that’s a juicy line-up. So Airfix don’t you dare think of retiring your pilots they are part of what makes Airfix “Airfix” and hopefully, with the rise of doing dioramas, you’ll give more than a passing thought to issuing some new figure sets in both WW1 & 2 eras plus maybe some sets for carrier decks as you seem to favouring the fleet-air-arm in decent styrene plastic. It can be done, You’ve done it, Revell have done it in the past, Italeri have done it with their Do 217, and just look at what Zvezda have done with their push-fit sets. Remember we do this for fun JtP

Brilliant! Brilliant explanation Ratch, araldite and succinct. Had a good laugh. JtP

Thanks Sailorman and Ratch for your comments, one quick question, does the advanced in AMS refer to skill level or the modelers age, (LOL!) if age, that's me. The jigging of those WW1 biplanes I must admit can be a bit of a pain but once you've got your technique sorted out I find it can be quite "thera-peu-tic" to quote Bing Crosby from the film "High Society", and when finished, a wonderful sense of achievement. If I can rig the Roden Bristol Fighter I feel I can rig just about anything, that's the aircraft behind the pint quaffing airman shown at the end of part 2. I've found that just put down those words has awakened my resolve to do something about the BE 2 and finish it, after-all I've overcome the mishap of breaking off the foremast of a fully rigged Tamiya USS Missouri, although it did take me a few months to regain my courage to tackle the repair. Whoops! A really annoying accident. All fixed-up, sort of. Near-enough-to-jazz for me. I do feel a bit more motivated to organize my work space which i admit is a bit of a dog's dinner and getting back into reducing my stash of a few more models. Maybe the Me110 as I've always been intrigued by it. Remember we do this for fun. John the Pom