jopres57

The RL is fine looking vehicle, I hope Airfix produce a kit of it soon, preferably in 1/72. I assume all the models on the page are your work Matthias. There are impressive ones there, the Stalwart looks particularly good.

A couple of neat Bedfords Matthias. Is the RL a resin conversion?

That's a good looking replica Tomek22. The cammo green looks like an accurate shade, what paint did you use?

The Scimitar would make an interesting new kit. Airfix have made them before, there are some mini ones on the deck of HMS Victorious.

To almost quote Lt Frank Drebin, "Nice Beever". I always thought this was a good kit and voted for it in the kitstarter project of a couple of years ago. The seventies and eighties saw the introduction of quite a few good models that have disappeared off the radar. It would be good to have the Islander/Defender and Skyvan back. I would particularly like to see a Defender in British Army markings.

My last post was replying to someone else's message Kev. The reply feature on the forum doesn't seem to work as well as it used to. Good build of both Bismarck and Hood by the way. It would be good if Airfix did some new 1/600 ship kits if they know there's still interest in the scale.

That sounds like a good idea. There seems to be a distinct shortage of new tooled RAF aircraft kits from between the wars in 1/72 as well

Posted at 19:40:24 Fri 8 Apr 2022 She was commissioned on the 24th August 1940 and sunk on the 27th May 1941. A very short life but nevertheless her schemes changed in that time period. You'll need to do a bit of research. Then choose the scheme you like best and go for it. There's a good build of a 1/350 Bismarck in the latest Airfix magazine, well worth checking out for anyone interested in the vessel. It shows the ship with a dazzle pattern on the hull but not on the superstructure, making painting a bit easier. I think it's the version I would go for.

I thought I would reload these pictures because the vehicle is a fairly obscure type.

Posted at 13:00:48 Thu 22 Sep 2022 it's not a weapon at all. It's a personal baggage container for the crew on overseas flights. Thanks for that, it makes sense now and obviously explains why I couldn't find it on all the weapon web sites I checked. I think the thing that threw me was the Hasegawa and Frog box art with additional ordnance, especially the latter with the aircraft in the heat of battle. It seems comical now to see a warplane flying over the battlefield carrying a container full of bags, suitcases, and fluffy toy souvenirs, hope it's not considered a breach of the Geneva Convention.

Just arrived, three kits that are definitely vintage classics. I’ve never made the HMS Nelson before so it will be a pleasant change. The Helldiver is an old favourite of mine and the F111 is increasingly hard to obtain at a decent price. The F111 weapon load is not exactly extensive, consisting of one, two-part weapons pod, shown on the paper bottom left. This looks like the same weapon that has been carried on the centreline of the Frog/ Hasagawa Thunderchief since it was first issued in the sixties, I made the Frog version about fifty years ago. Thing is, in all this time, I have never been able to confirm what kind of weapon this is supposed to represent. I have seen it variously described as a rocket pod, a gun pod, or a dispenser for practice bombs. Does anyone actually know what it’s supposed to be? I think after all these years it's about time I found out.

Thanks for that reminder Ratch. It's good to see that there's no mention of any problems with the Cessna 02, surely a kit that is well overdue a re-release.

Actually I didn't know about the Herald of Free Enterprise. I'm sure there are a few more kits we won't see again because of circumstances, not choice. It would be good to have a list though to save the trouble of asking for things that there are no longer molds for. Having said that I have mentioned before the idea of reverse engineering old kits to build new molds from old parts. I'm sure the technology is available, it's just a matter of making it profitable.

Just one last request from me on this part of the forum for a while. Would it not be possible for Airfix to publish a list of older kits that, for whatever reason, will probably not be re-released as a vintage classic ( through damaged or lost molds etc. ). It will save us having to ask for them.

I know it's probably too late for 2023 now but I was wondering recently if Airfix had ever considered producing a detailed kit of a WW2 Japanese twin engined bomber. There are a few to choose from and finding a decent kit of any of them at a reasonable price is fairly unusual. I think it's an area that has been surprisingly neglected.

Apparently a firm called Kitty Hawk produce a 1/48 Jaguar T4 and Kinetic make a 1/48 two seat Harrier, but only up to a T8. I've never made a kit from either of these manufacturers so I don't know how good they are. There are probably reviews online.

Looking online today it's definitely worth mentioning again that many of the older kits need re-issueing as vintage classics. The Airfix Bloodhound missile set, and f1-11 kits from any manufacturer, are for sale at too expensive prices, and that's just two that I've noticed in a few minutes. Older models that are being sold over the odds need a new lease of life to stop people being ripped off. I'm sure there are still many vintage Airfix kits that would sell.

Some good choices in that last list, the Roland is a great little kit made better by the well detailed crew figures. I'm sure the Cessna 02 would sell well, it hasn't been released since 1987 and I've no idea why.

That Thor missile and transporter is really impressive. I think missiles make good looking models and the price of the discontinued Guideline kit is reaching silly proportions online. It would be good to see the Bloodhound re-released, and going slightly off topic and moving from RAF to Army, it would be good to see a 1/72 Corporal, Honest John, Thunderbird, or Lance. The Honest John especially was a great looking system. It was in service for a long time and served with many armies, but I don't think any mainstream manufacturer has produced a plastic 1/72 kit. Going slightly more off topic it would be great if Airfix went back to its pioneering days and issued the first mass produced plastic HIMARS vehicle.

I can't wait for the release of the model of Oddball's Sherman from ' Kelly's Heroes' along with the free bar of goldgrinning

Welcome back to the hobby William. You should find some useful information here. Put some pictures of your work on the forum when you get chance.

If anyone does try out a 1/72 Airfix Chipmunk from eBay there's a good decal sheet available from Hannants that covers a variety of training schemes. It's Model Art sheet MA 7276.

This is kit I made a while ago, I think its the last issue from Airfix in 2012 or so. I found it a rewarding build with no problems.

A vacform replacement for the canopy may be an idea. Smaller transparencies could be replaced by Krystal Klear or something similar.

I bought an AC47 gunship on eBay a couple of weeks ago, they seem to be regularly available and can be had for a reasonable price. Might it be an idea to purchase one and do some swapping and changing of bits from the latest kit?