jopres57

Apart from the dark tail fin, which could be a new replacement , the cammo scheme seems to be the same as many other Rhodesian a.f. aircraft; overall dark earth with dark green cammo on top. It is possible that the tail fin, if it is a replacement, could be in the original green colour that has faded on the rest of the plane. Xtradecal X48203 is a good sheet that gives markings for a Hawker Hunter in a similar scheme, the colours given there are X001 Dark green and X002 Dark Earth. I think the Humbrol equivalents are 163 and 29. This will give a new looking finish though, so as Peter s says you may want to lighten the colours to simulate wear, tear, and sun bleaching.

Mountford models do a metal 1/1250 scale waterline model but it's ready assembled. Not much of a subject really for a serious modeler. There is also a resin kit in 1/700 scale by a firm called OKB Grigorov. Not sure where they are located but probably not far from Germany.

Chieftains entered service in the sixties so would almost certainly be painted gloss deep bronze green to start with. I saw an interesting programme about the British Army of the Rhine on telly a while ago, part of it being a clip of the 17/21 lancers on exercise in 1968. The film was black and white but the Chieftain tanks are clearly painted in one overall colour with a distinctive shine, I'm sure that this will be gloss bronze green. I'm also fairly certain that Chieftains painted in bronze green were still being used in training units until at least the late seventies, although there is a chance that my memory is playing tricks. I wrote a bit more about this on the 'British Army Colours' sub-forum below.

It does seem like a good idea to prime all the kit on the sprues camy67, especially if you're not too keen on masking. The only snag is that you would then have to clean all the surfaces that are to be glued, otherwise they won't stick. Also a lot of people use priming partly as a way of spotting any areas of a kit that need tidying up before the final coat goes on. Saying that, I still paint using brushes and have thought about using spray can primer on large kit parts. This would be to put a light coat on dark plastic if the end finish is to be predominantly light. I suppose like everything else it's a matter of finding out what seems to work best.

Shortly after the Airfix Panzer IV was originally released I remember an article in the modelling press ( fairly sure it was Airfix mag ) describing a conversion to the experimental kugelblitz anti-aircraft tank. I was impressed by the vehicle and would have really liked to have attempted the work with balsa wood, plastic card, and other bits and pieces, typical of the times, but unfortunately my skillset fell well short. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I noticed a fairly neat kugelblitz conversion kit available on-line which coincided with a realisation that my Panzer IV stash from various decades was becoming ridiculously large. Hence my first serious attempt at a conversion: /media/tinymce_upload/6f9cfe1464ed96a15defe9dab25daf50.JPG /media/tinymce_upload/58d2ffbaa007414441e96b59b6f03550.JPG It's a impressive looking vehicle but good luck to any potential gun crew. That turret looks like it could be really difficult to escape from if it jams in the wrong position.

Well put Prometheus, I've been saying the same thing about cold war British Army vehicles in a couple of posts recently. So far to no avail, but we can always live in hope. Speaking of the Unimog, I saw a picture in a book I was reading of a 17 pounder A.T. gun being towed by a Unimog tractor, apparently it belonged to a unit of the British Berlin Brigade shortly after the war. What a good kit that would make; two iconic subjects in one.

I recently bought this classic kit again to try and keep up my support of Airfix, first time I have built it since it came in a headed bag. /media/tinymce_upload/1527b3dd300de729a2e77e95c971ae0e.JPG /media/tinymce_upload/15d22e0e94940be689a74f7643c26c1b.JPG /media/tinymce_upload/54ec5412e05cc330ad6c4f5cadab029a.JPG I'm sure that as a fifty-odd year old mould it has its inaccuracies, probably commented on many times before, but it looks the part and is a very pleasing build. My last 6 pounder and 25 pounder kits went missing in action a very long time ago but I still had in a box a few of the original gunners. I recently bought a tank destroyer from another manufacturer and was surprised to find that the open turret had no detail in at all. Some of the gunners were brought out of retirement and along with a bit of scratchbuilding helped to make the model a bit more realistic. Just goes to show that old Airfix soldiers never die, they just get re-painted and used again! /media/tinymce_upload/68918b92ef5c90936780d5fa68dde241.jpg

I think that if you're considering a 1/72 WW2 subject then a Lancaster or Flying Fortress are often favourites. Post war a Vulcan is a patriotic choice and looks good. I can't help thinking though that the bomber that really looks the part is the B58 Hustler, the Italeri kit can still be found. Sorry to bring up a non Airfix kit but I wish they would produce an up to date model of this iconic aircraft. Probably not much chance but you never know?

There are actually a number of posts on this subject Jeff, but they are spread about all over the Forum. General consensus of opinion seems to be that moveable parts were best left in the Sixties, although I personally think that a model plane isn't right if it has propellers that don't turn. I think most people agree though that having parts that can be glued in different positions, generally referred to as 'posable', is an important part of a good kit.

This is my attempt at the Catalina, made in the nineteen eighties ( and using the wrong shade of grey for the wings). Apart from the decals I think the kit itself remained unchanged during the many years of production. /media/tinymce_upload/e660e0754470f316147a1f035c3c4210.JPG It's a great model but the main problem is that it's a chronic tail sitter. Another snag is that the main undercarriage legs are wide, thin and a bit fragile, so they won't take too much weight. A bit of a balancing act is required, or alternatively some stronger legs. My effort has worn well but the varnished white has started to acquire a distinctly yellow tint. I used humbrol enamels and varnish at the time. If anyone has found a good way of avoiding the yellowing I'd be glad to know.

I've noticed over the last couple of days that when I log into the Airfix site I no longer see a discount on kit prices. Is this just me or have I missed something?

I think your old friend has a good point there Ratch. I remember in the seventies it was quite common to have fuel cans on the outside of British armoured vehicles, usually Kero (Paraffin) for cooking. It's likely that a valuable lesson in safety, learned the hard way, had been forgotten. Not for the first time and no doubt not the last.

Just had another 'back to the future' experience with this old kit after seeing it back on sale in the Classics range. It seems a bit ropey now but I remember this was state of the art when it first appeared. It was certainly a big step up in quality from the Airfix sixties tanks. /media/tinymce_upload/b09334cd85070a412b94d0093f4c2b06.JPG /media/tinymce_upload/3855b76c65a381aec7a9d6dc215bb2b2.JPG The driver is a Preiser figure while the commander is from the Revell Luftwaffe set. I think it's been mentioned before on this forum that the latter figures are particularly good value. /media/tinymce_upload/465c6a73d1b966d4b07f38bd4cf6a6f0.JPG After all these years I have only recently noticed that the drum on the back is an exhaust, I always assumed it was some kind of fuel tank. I built the model as per the instructions but can't help thinking that having a jerry-can full of fuel perched on top of a hot exhaust is probably not a good idea. Has anyone ever seen a picture of a real tank with this configuration? /media/tinymce_upload/c0cfc3760d273b06b0da49ffff587df5.JPG I've built up a bit of a squad of these over the years. The model on the right was built about ten years ago. The two to the left were both built shortly after the kit was first released. The latter were my first, slightly grim, attempts at weathering and modifications. I hope the kit continues to be released, but perhaps a bit of an update is in order.

The tracks are similar to the old plastic bands (someone on this site says they are a bit too short), the main difference being the ends have a slightly more secure hook and eye type connection; One end is T-shaped and the other has a small rectangular hole. Incidently, speaking of old models, I was recently looking at this site which I found fairly interesting. It brought back a few memories: https://boxartden.com/collections/gallery/index.php/Vintage-Model-Kit-Catalogs-1950-1999/Airfix Many of you may have seen it, others may not.

Thats a good finish. I'm impressed by the new solid tracks, joining the old flexible tracks up has always been a pain. Individual link tracks used by other manufacturers look good but are a bit fiddley. I notice the new Tiger 2 has a slight variation on the rubber band tracks but I haven't made mine yet so I'll have to reserve judgement.

I saw the documentary about the Tower of London on telly last night. I was particularly interested in the clip of the Honourable Artillery Company detachment. Three 105mm light guns with Pinzgauer tractors, and a Land Rover. All of them immaculately finished in gloss deep bronze green. Glad to see the old colour is still going strong.

Just arrived this morning from Airfix; the Panther tank and all five WW1 figure sets from the 'Classics' series. I was really pleased to see that they had all been moulded in similar coloured plastics as the originals. Everything moulded in grey can be a bit of a pain sometimes. Having to brush paint white or yellow over a darker plastic can sometimes take four or five coats. Things were a lot easier in the days of kits like the old Sunderland, Catalina, Phantom and Buccaneer. Lets hope a bit of plastic colour variety can return in some more cases.

Glossy Deep Bronze Green was used for many years as a standard colour for vehicles in the British Army. During the years of National Service, up to the mid sixties, the equipment was usually kept very clean and highly polished, with soft skin ‘B’ vehicles often inspected by Officers in white gloves! I understand that these inspections even included under the bonnet. In the U.K. and Europe, a camouflage of green and black (NATO green and NATO black) began to be applied in the late sixties / early seventies. The U.K. manufactured vehicles still entered service in overall Bronze Green but had to have the cammo applied at unit level when required, either by brush or a spay gun if available. This practice continued until at least the nineteen eighties. Vehicles that had undergone a base overall (rebuild) were re-issued to units painted in overall NATO green so just needed a coat of black if required. I never noticed a significant variation in shade of the NATO green if it was applied properly, but sometimes the matt paint would dry satin or even gloss if the tin wasn’t stirred well enough. Also, the paint wasn’t a particular good quality so soon became darkened by dirt and oil. This was particularly noticeable on the engine decks of AFV’s, especially tanks, when the black and green sometimes became almost indistinguishable. The only real difference in the shade of matt green was in Northern Ireland, were protected vehicles such as Snatch Land Rovers, Humber Pigs, and Saracens were often painted overall in a slightly darker shade. This may have been to distinguish Internal Security vehicles from dedicated combat types for political reasons. The camouflaging of vehicles at unit level wasn’t always consistent. New and re-built equipment would sometimes slip through the net and stay unpainted for months or even a year or two, particularly soft skins. On camouflaged vehicles the cab and rear cargo area of vehicles such as Land Rovers and Bedfords would also often remain in Bronze Green until they became shabby. This was especially true of cabs, which would often stay in their original colour for several years until eventually given a coat of NATO green. Externally, once a vehicle had been camouflaged it was often regularly re-painted, this depended on how obsessed the unit was with bullshine! Although vehicles were painted matt green and black, new replacement parts were still issued in Bronze Green so it wasn’t unusual, for instance, to see an AFV in cammo with glossy new stowage bin or mudguard. This information is correct as far as I can remember, although inevitably there would have been some exceptions. From a modelling point of view, I find that cockpit green (Humbrol 78) darkened slightly with some Humbrol 30 green gives a good approximation for NATO green. I’m not sure if NATO green has changed since back in the day. It doesn’t seem to have done judging by pictures, but I admit I haven’t seen many vehicles in close up lately apart from the occasional Territorials. It seems to be standard now that new vehicles are issued in a NATO green colour. One reason for a difference in shade could be that that the manufacturers finish is not quite the same as the issued paint.

There are some very optimistic suggestions for new kits in this topic, although it would be good to see Airfix release a 1/72 model, preferably of an aircraft that served in the RAF, that hasn't been released by a mainstream manufacturer before. A new tool F-111 would also be good, this of course would have to include transfers for an RAAF version to pay off the persistence of our old friend 'the F111C guy'. Finally, we definitely need newer 1/72 (1/76) vehicles and tanks next year. More people should ask for this because I do think that Airfix takes notice of this forum.

I was amused to see the Tiger 1 tank is still in the 2018 catalogue, I assume this is still the nineteen sixties version that has risen from the dead more times than Captain Scarlet ! I'm sure someone at Airfix is keeping it going as a bet. Seriously though, if this old warhorse can keep going why can't some of the others. I'd like to see the Scimitar tank kit finally updated from the prototype before the real thing finally retires from service after nearly fifty years! I've said before on the forum how disappointing it is that the main UK model manufacturer does not produce more British Army kits. Things don't seem to be changing unfortunately.

I would also be interested in all the details of the re-born Airfix Mag. I must admit I have intended to do a similar thing myself but never got around to it. I'd be willing to contribute a few bob.

This may be a bit off message but there has been a lot of debate on the subject of 1/600 ships recently. Would it not be possible for us to encourage Airfix to re-introduce the Kitstarter idea with a ship, just to test how popular the idea is of having these models back. Hopefully there will be a bit more support this time.

I think similar things could be said for the Nimrod and TSR2. Does anyone know the economic benefits of having kits on limited release, are they made with cheaper moulds or something? It could be argued that the TSR2 will only develop a lot of interest in the UK, but I'm sure the other two would generate consistant sales at home and abroad.

Airfix produced some great ship kits back in the day; interesting subjects that could be built by beginners but big enough for further detailing. Ships, Aircraft, and the rest, I'm sure they would still be popular. The annoying thing about old Airfix kits is that they are obviously difficult to find and are fairly expensive if bought online. I think it would be a good idea if the Airfix team had a look on the internet auction sites and had at least a limited re-release of the most expensive kits; there's obviously a demand for them. This would help stop dedicated Airfix fans being taken advantage of. I like to rebuild some of the kits I remember from my younger days, as I'm sure others must do. The older models also had the advantage of being fairly easy to put together, especially by younger builders. The new releases today are excellent kits but I think are often too complicated for the average 8 - 10 year old, so the new enthusiasts the hobby needs will obviously be deterred at an impressionable age. Its disappointing to see the old kits being criticised sometimes on these forums because they can look quite good with a decent coat of paint and some good decals. Lets hope we can soon see HMS Victorious and the Rommel back with some new releases.