DavidJC

Sad news but inevitable. There would have to have been so many restrictions in place - social distancing, one way systems for instance which would have been impossible to keep to - as well as international traders and visitors, many of which are under their own restrictions, would have made the show so small and/or impossible to be viable.

In the UK I don't think there's going to be much of a problem of storing plastic kits in the loft, even in a heatwave. However, the changes of temperature and varying humidity will play havoc with the boxes, instructions and more critically, the decals. Store the kits in the boxes (if the boxes aren't that important) in the loft, but keep the instructions and decals in a dark, even-temperature area. Loose in a shoebox in a cupboard in the spare room would be fine, but of course label the instructions and decals so you can pair them up later. That said, if your loft is converted to habitable use then there should be no issue anyway.

This is why I do not post many of my own builds. Granted they are not always Airfix anyway, but in any event they are never good enough for any gallery.

I'm not a big buyer but a small frequent one and everything I have bought from them - so far at least- has been well-packed.

Are you sure this is a common and recurring problem or was it just a one off? I can't speak for Airfix as a whole or an entity - I do not work for them - whilst I can see criticism is never plesant, if it's constructive it can be useful. Only in this way can things ever improve.

I think it might be worth keeping in mind that Admin, and Community Moderators (who have nothing to do with the running of the site per se), do so when they are able and are not paid (or in Airfix's case, not paid extra). I know it can be frustrating, especially in today's world when everything is pretty much instant - I would love to be able to see pictures of builds sooner, but, I can only echo other comments and say we appreciate patience when waiting for images to be approved.

I suppose a 'parts count' could give an overall idea as to the complexity of the kit, but it can also mean there are 10 bombs each of two different parts, or optional parts for different variants, which would skew the part count to a certain extent. That said, a part count being stated has never really bothered me personally.

Thank you for your kind comment Rocket Ron. I can see some really clumsy mistakes in it which perhaps aren't immediately obvious. I enjoyed the conversion though and learned alot from it. The real aircraft I remember from childhood from when my father was based at Brawdy.

Here is Airfix's 1/48 F6 Hunter using Aerocraft's conversion kit with Aerocraft conversion set. Not for a beginner as you have to carry out surgery on the kit (nose and rear fuselage), but even so fairly straightforward for an experienced modeller (which I am not). Good set of transfers too. The canopy is undoubtedly the worst aspect as it's not a rigid plastic but a softer type. My recommendation would be to leave the clear parts on the casting blocks until you are absolutely ready to attach them to the fuselage. Wear cotton gloves and avoid handling the clear parts too much, working on them for only short periods of times, to avoid warming the clear parts as they are very susceptible to warping. /media/tinymce_upload/964c5c779b931a331da978c2fb83c458.jpgHowever, even for me, a rank novice in conversions, I would recommend the conversion kit. Here's mine completed just before Christmas.

I can't really add any more, only to confirm and back up what's been said. Also I think it of value to say that my understanding is that the Aifrix team is much smaller than might be imagined; the glory days of the 70s when there were perhaps dedicated staff for such things are long gone - not that we had anything like the internet back then anyway, So yes, I know it's frustrating - I want to see everyone's builds as much as everyone wants to post them - but all we can do as ask for patience in the meantime.

mark_75 and everyone. Take it from me, someone who is a long-time sufferer of bouts of depression, I fully empathise with the sometimes less than rewarding results of trying to make a model, especially one you see in your mind's eye as something approaching those of top modellers. I have been to Telford model show and a couple over the years more local to me. The builds both inspire and dishearten me: one because I want to turn out a model as good as theirs then second, I know I never will. That said, aside from those times when I simply can't face anything or anybody, making models have seen me through some dark times and I have improved, even in my eyes, from when I returned around 7 years (or so) ago after a long, long break. Whilst I still aspire to turn out a top-notch model (though never will) and have improved, I do build for me. I make mistakes galore, I knock a bit off or the paint goes a bit wrong, but since nobody other than me (or my father who I give them to and his friends) is going to see it to criticise, I don't mind. It's been slow but yes I have improved - masking, airbrushing, avoiding glue disasters - and hope to improve more. I came to realise that one can't just pick up a kit and produce that masterpiece. On the other hand, selecting the right kit can take you in that direction. It is why I always recommend to a new modeller to avoid the older Airfix moulds but to keep to the new releases (other than their Meteor which I am openly critical about due to the appalling nose fit), or, dare I say, 1/48 kits from the Japanese manufacturer, T'*a. Not that I am advocating that here, by the way: just that to encourage a new modeller, or those with rusty experience, to start along those lines. A new-tool Airfix kit (the Buccaneer is a prime example of Airfix's progress) is a better place to start than what are seen as 'starter kits' that can be acknowledged as ropey when they were released in the 60s. Contrary to the common opinion (and most other aspects of life), I think once one's experienced easy modelling, I think it paves the way for more challenging kits. The bottom line is though, don't give up. I'm still clumsy but am learning and even though I only build two or three a year (I build for me in my own time) I can see an improvement in each kit I build - I build on experience from each one. Give it a go.

You can get tape similar to Tamiya, I forget its name offhand, but can be bought in very fine widths. I am not a ship modeller, although the principal would be the same. Paint the area of the Plimsoll line in the Plimsoll line colour, apply the tape, and paint the appropriate colours from there. I am guessing you will have to mask above and below the fine tape if there's a hull/keel colour demarcation, but the principal is there. Remove all masking and you will end up with a very fine, straight, clean Plimsoll line. Edit: Link to an image https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/sakatsu/item/140300020011/

I don't doubt the popularity of the car in the wider world, Rogerbass, there are any number of die-casts testament to that. But as a model kit? Personally I'm not convinced. That said, I think you're right in the sense that properly designed any number of variants could be produced from the moulds. Would it though at the end of the day be in Airfix's best interests to spend so many thousands on research and development which is is, nowadays, an obscure car fondly remembered by a few? It wouldn't be unusual of course, after all the Sea Vixen and Walrus - though very very welcome - were offbeat enough. Airfix themselves have dabbled with car kits, albeit in 1/32, though that was decades ago and of subjects relevant at the time. Some of those whilst not strange choices, were unusua even for the timel (Maxi, Victor, Marina) rather than say other supercars. I would imagine that even if they were to gamble, they would have to consider 1/24 nowadays. I am not in any way against the production of the Minor range, even if I'd never give one house room 🤐 The bottom line is though, it would have to be commercially viable and to that end, would it sell in sufficient numbers?

Somewhere on the site there's a whole thread about the (sorry but) awful Morris Minor. Personal feelings aside though, I guess it just isn't economcially viable otherwise - arguably - other manufacturers would have pickedeup on it. Tamiya did with the Mini and Jaguar after all. It also ties in with customer bases and demographics and who these days would remember the things, let alone want to buy a kit of the wretched car! (stands by for bottles being thrown)

Indeed welcome.