Dad Paul B

I have used Satin Cote over acrylics and it was fine. Just make sure you leave plenty of time for the decals to properly adhere as I went too quickly and had some minor movement issues. You just need to watch out for some of the sprays cans (acrylic and enamel) as I have issues with decals getting dissolved so they need tobe varnished by hand first to provide a protective layer. The main issue I have had with matt varnishes, and some satin, is the matting agent leaving a white residue behind.

I agree with all the posters about a V-Bomber resupply set. I have a complete collection of the V-Force, though the new Vulcan is tempting with the conventional payload (though it would need a fin with the Radar Warning Receiver and a pylon for an ECM pod to make XM607 on Black Buck 1. I would like to see some more 1/72 vehicles, my son and I already have enough Tiger 1s and Fireflies for our wargame forces and are looking out for reconnaissance vehicles and support weapons, plus some nice new figures would be welcome. Of the Vintage Classics - I would love todo HMS Fearless again; I have just finished Ark Royal and really enjoyed my ship building phase in the mid to late 1970s. As a classic jet fan I would love to see more of these in 1/72 - Meteor, Vampire FB5, Venom, Sea Vixen, Sea Hawk and Tornado. Also Mirages, Sukhoi Flankers, MiG 21, Saab Viggen. Also an Anti-Submarine version of the new Sea King (with both Radome variants for early and later versions).

This was my christmas present. Ark Royal (the World War 2 version) has been rereleased under the 'Vintage Classics' banner. It was originally tooled in 1966 and I have fond memories of building the kit with my brother back in the 1970s. Given the age of the kit it is not surprising that it is pretty basic compared with modern technology but was very advanced for its time. Given the age and popularity of the tooling there is a little flash and some sizeable ejector pin marks; some of the latter being awkwardly placed in the boat wells and inaccessible to the tools I had available (a Dremel would probably be the most appropriate). That said there is a reasonable amount of detail where the lower decks meet openings in the hull. There are a full complement of ship's boats and life rafts, though the cranes are very basic and I was unable to do much with them. This may be a good place to get some photo etch. The build was pretty simple, though getting the boat deck inserts through the gaps in the hull was a squeeze (best to put the outer boats in after this step I think)and I did end up with a prominent seam under the hull, though this was not an issue as the base would hide this. The island was a simple construction but effective and there are options for raised or lowered elevators; however the elevator wells were simple pits in the deck and there were no inserts for hangar detail as in more modern offerings. I also chose to sand off the moulded arrestor cables and lowered barrier in favour of adding these with EZ Line. I also chose, based on some photographic evidence, to paint the elevators in a lightened shade of green compared to the deck. All painting was by hand, dark sea grey hull (lighter than the suggested shade) and Medium Sea Grey for the superstructure with some variation for the other grey components to break things up a little, and a US Light Green Deck. Rusting was a simple application of Humbrol 113 'Rust' around the well apertures and straight down. The colour was watered down a little to mute the effect. Finally the bit that I loved as a child was the air wing. 6 Swordfish and Fulmars (2 of each with folder wings) which added life to the deck. I chose to have a group of Swordfish being launched to hunt down the Bismarck; the first having just cleared the starboard catapult courtesy of a wire. Similarly I had a Fulmar on one of the arrestors and another about to recover on return from a patrol.I felt the need to use the forward elevators to be bringing folder planes up ready but thought the elevator behind the barrier needed to be raised to prevent landing accidents causing a major incident. Finally a base was made from Foamboard, with extra layers creating a well in which the lower hull sat. This was textured with Milliput and Vallejo filling putty and then painted. The board is very soft so was easy to cut and poke bits of wire into. I also added some smoke comung out of the funnel as she steamed into the wind to aid air operations. This was abuild which fulfilled all my initial hopes. Although 50 years old the tooling still offers a lot to the modeller and would benefit from aftermarket additions despite its age. Although 1/350 offers much potential for ships I suspect that larger vessels might still benefit from the smaller scale; especially as Tumbling Dice so a huge range of 1/600 aircraft for customising Air Wings. The only thing I would have added to the package were decals for the roundels. Thanks to the folks at Airfix for giving me the opportunity to relive this build. /media/tinymce_upload/fe7d4431b1bf7fc71d5ebf1a09d9b2ba.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/3bf4ea101902dd2f099880a442fd7f4a.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/36c24a8da4ac0334a95ac8f5247742d1.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/c3a2048af15da4582b12dd57873fef94.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/5f412ebdbe29a0d89d7821b3bfa18e99.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/447bb42c071b92ec04ea85943a6cc2b1.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/e1db69514945c1bc1bee31a98121adcd.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/dc018bd1452fc19b184607ef00397abc.jpg The sea spray was simply cotton wool.

This was the only one of the Aldi starter sets that I hadn't done in this year's selection. My son has already done a Gnat (1960s silver/orange) so I knew this was a nice little kit. A quick pre-christmas build was the plan so entirely out of the box. The pilot got a full colour paint since I was not limited to only 4 shades and the kit went together very quickly with only a little filing ad filling. For the paintwork I chose Insignia Yellow for the main colour and Coal Black for the fin. I left off the extra fuel tanks as this was a display aircraft from the early 60s. This is a lovely little kit and has now been released with a 1970s Flight Training School livery along with a 'Hot Shots' (if you never saw it think 'Top Gun' by the makers of 'Airplane') US version. A quick and easy build. The Yellowjacks performed for one season, although were not happy with the yellow scheme as it could get lost against the sky..I can vouch for this as it is suspended from a sky blue ceiling and blends in surprisingly well from a modest distance.The following year they became the Red Arrows /media/tinymce_upload/51a87222aebe7ca13dae3a590a670588.JPG /media/tinymce_upload/dd1f55dfb5b8575fde1b6d017c76da0e.JPG /media/tinymce_upload/d8b1d17040e6629525a2b2426c18ee53.JPG The underside knife aerial is moulded on and prone to damage but otherwise there are no issues with this kit. My daughter has a Red Arrows version in her stash.

Yellows are notoriously translucent, regardless of manufacturer. However keep applying the coats and it will improve. I tend to favour a white base coat for yellows, reds and oranges.Your brushwork looks good, though I would suggest drawing the next coat in the direction of the airflow rather than along the wing. This won't show from any kind of distance so will look fine at normal viewing distances..

The Victor carried its conventional load on five racks of seven. These were staggered. If you hunt for images (you can find one in several books on the V-Bombers) you will see that the release pattern is 3 racks emptying in the same manner as the Vulcan with the remaining 2 staggered indicating these racks are above and in the intervals of the initial three. Roughly as shown below. I suspect they use the same 7 bomb holders as the Vulcan. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

A lot of of the planned Autumn releases seem to have been delayed or sold out their initial production run.

OK. I am going to have a guess as to what might be appearing in the 2020 catalogue as it is only a few weeks until the big reveal. Given that the Hellcat was the major release last year another 1/24 offering is very unlikely so I suspect 1/72 and 1/48 will be the scales of the year. So, here goes. In 1/72 we are about due another Battle of Britain aircraft since it is 2 years since the Wellington. My best guess here is a subject which these forums have been crying out for as the last significant Luftwaffe entry. If there is no Ju-88 in 2020 it can't be that far off. 2020 marks the 75th Anniversary of the end of WW2 so a significant subject from that year ought to be on the cards so I think there is a fair chance of seeing a new B-29 in 1/72. If you want a guess at liveries I would suggest 'Enola Gay', 'Bock's Car', a conventional bomber from the pacific theatre and maybe an RAF Washington. When we consider 1/48 we see a steady stream of WW2 and Early Jet aircraft, more or less alternating. This year saw the Spit XIV and Tiger Moth (delayed till 2020) so I think it is the turn of the Jets. We have had a Meteor and a Hunter so the obvious gap filler would be either a Vampire or Venom. Both of these have options for RAF and Fleet Air Arm versions in keeping with the Sea Fury so must be good candidates, and the Vampire was certainly exported so I think has the edge over the later Venom. Though something more contemporary is a possibility (Harrier, Skyhawk maybe) A fourth new tool is faily normal for a year and given the delays in the Tiger Moth I would edge towards another 1/72 offering. Either a small jet or something completely different like a V-Bomber Resupply set. I have no inside information so this is pure speculation. I would be interested to see what others think. What I would like to see is a 1/72 Macchi M202 Folgore (my son wants one to match with the Desert Air Force Tomahawk) and a 1/72 Canberra to accompany my V-Bombers along with the resupply set.

The list of Eric Brown's aircraft types flown includes the Hs129 (and 123) so he did fly this one.

Fine lead shot is very good as it packs very efficiently. You can still get it in fishing shops although its use is frowned upon for good reasons, Bismuth is preferred but is not as dense. You can also get small lead billets intended for casting your own weights which is good for larger weights as it cuts easily. Both of these stick well with cyanoacrylate.

Could be that the paint didn't adhere quite as strongly due to mould release agent and the Matt Cote softened the underlying enamel to cause it to blister. This is unusual with enamels as being non-aqueous they tend not to be bothered by water repellant residues. How long did the khaki have to cure before you appplied the matt cote? Enamels need longer to cure fully than acrylics and they tend to dry slower in the middle of a surface sothe paint may still have been a little soft when you varnished. Where I have come across recommendations they usually suggest at least 24 hours and often 2 or 3 days for enamels. I would suggest using a gloss varnish initially as these are better for decalling - mainly to prevent silvering of the carrier film and then put matt over the top.

A very nice build. A reissue would probably be livened up with all of the stencils to break up the plain colour blocks.

You have kept them in amazing condition given that they are over 40 years old.

This is coming together very nicely Heather. I really ought to do a Blenheim and Beaufighter (and maybe a Bulldog but I have a love-hate relationship with Biplanes) as I worked at Filton 30 years ago on the design software for Airbuses and 146s. Looking forward to seeing the final results.

One thing Airfix need to be a little cautious about is producing new toolings for kits other manufacturers are producing at similar price points. In Europe that means Revell (and Heller if they are back on their feet). There are several very good Czech manufacturers and some that produce limited run kits of hard to find subjects. Contemporary (at the time of original release - but now 'classic') British and World War 2 subjects have always been well represented and are being retooled. Post-War US aircraft have been popular, especially in the 1980s when General Mills owned the company so there was a good range of 1970s-early 80s subjects (and a few earlier like the Skyray) and are probably when the rereleased F-15, 16 and 18 kits were produced. A P-38 is probably unlikely in 1/72 as Academy produced one in around 2006 which is still available from, I think, Special Hobby. This was very good and putting out a competitor might be a risk (but would probably work if tried). Bear in mind that these projects take a couple of years to reach the shelves and new releases are in single figures and split between scales at the moment so the release schedule is a trickle. The tooling costs tens of thousands of pounds to produce so you need to sell thousands of units to make the cost back (5-6000 unit runs on the 1/24s apparently are profitable but the margins on smaller kits are lower and runs of 50,000 and more haven't been seen since the 70s so it might take a few years to make back the investment on a series 1 kit. Hence the cautious schedule. I would say Airfix are doing well in a difficult market place and that the way to get more kits produced is to become a nation of modelmakers once again (unlikely I am afraid - as a schoolboy in the 70s most of my friends built kits, nowadays only 1 of my son's friends is a builder). I know Airfix is popular in Sweden (hence the number of Swedish schemes over the years - it helps that they bought quite a few British aircraft as well as making some really interesting planes of their own. I think Australia and South Africa are their larger markets. Japan is a big market but they have plenty of their own manufacturers so there is limited space for other brands.

Will They do look like brush strokes. What size brush were you using? Generally for large areas the larger the brush the better. I am not sure rotating the direction of painting between coats will help. Humbrol matts can be a little grainy and I have had similar effectswhen trying for large area coverage. Possibly trying to get a thinner coat by reducing th brush loading by wiping it on a bit of kitchen paper to get rid of droplets before painting the surface. What was the temperature like when applying? Acrylics sometimes dry too quickly to level out and the recent hot spell would have been enoughto cause this sort of thing The effect is fairly subtle so is unlikely to show up at normal viewing distance. Close ups really highlight minor imperfections.

Having built the 1/72 the Strakes require the aft fuselage to be cut out (same for the dropped crew access doors). Hopefully the 1/48 will be more straightforward.

Jeff I use some Tamiya acrylics and they do dry out fast since they use alcohol as the carrier medium which has a lower boiling point. Even in mostly mild UK I need to add fresh paint and water to my palette (a Pringles cap - other brands of crispy snacks in tubes are available). Oz heat will not help this. Water based paints like Humbrol or Vallejo should be more manageable, even in your heat.

Both the Spit I/II and Typhoon are very good kits. The Typhoon has more detail and a few more options in the build. I would recommend both. I would also suggest getting some thinner cement - Humbrol Precision and Revell Contacta are both easier to control than the old tubes. Alsopick up a pot of the acrylic primer as water based paints tend to form droplets on the surface of plastic models. After that just try them out. The Tomahawk is also very good.

This is my second Jet Provost. Having done my first in the 1970s White/Grey/Red scheme I acquired a Red Pelicans starter set in Aldi the christmas before last. However I decided to go for the 1960s Grey/Dayglo Orange scheme using the original decal sheet (although this meant I didn't have the stencils having already used them on the first build). As before this kit went together beautifully. It is basic, with no internal detail on the jet pipe or inlet trunking, so you can see all the way through if you try. This isn't much of an issue as you have to be looking at the right angle. The basic paint scheme is very simple - all over Light Aircraft Grey (I used Vallejo Silver Grey) with Silver on the jet pipe (gun metal inside) and tamiya clear colours for the navigation lights and heat staining on the jet pipe. The tricky part for this scheme is the dayglo training bands. These have good opacity but are very thick, as mentioned in the Vampire T.11 thread running at the moment. I started with these, ready to abandon it for the Red Pelicans if it went wrong. I started with the leading edge 'wraparound' decals which are the trickiest. As advised by posters on the Vampire thread I used hot water and microset solution. Even so getting them to lie flat required a lot of pressure from fingers dipped in hot water running along the leading edge to get them to sit down. The rest of the wing markings went on fine. The fuselage bands did sit up in places, this was mostly solved with microsol and pressure from a paintbrush - a couple did tear but the fragments could be manouvred into position. The stripes on the wingtip fuel tanks also needed persuasion from microsol to get the corners to lay down. I decided against weathering as all the photos I saw looked very clean (I guess trainees are told to clean airframes often to 'spit'n'polish standard. So a very simple build and a scheme which really stands out - maybe the orange bands need to be muted a little, though it is hard to tell given that most pictures of the time are in black and white and the bands are a very similar shade in greyscale to the underlying grey/aluminium. Anyway, here a a few pictures. /media/tinymce_upload/c8dbd048d74dd0fc3b06727e87bbd702.JPG /media/tinymce_upload/98a9fb75d5766eeca200e6b831156a19.JPG /media/tinymce_upload/6d8039891e3c4326020bc0a543ad428e.JPG /media/tinymce_upload/f02443b343164f83e11f8dee0d7a979a.JPG /media/tinymce_upload/3937247331115c4c6a3a3e94c77c0469.JPG /media/tinymce_upload/ed10ff346718b922e23fd769d845f4a4.JPG /media/tinymce_upload/8ee5259ce3b88707aa466125302501db.JPG And finally, in formation with its later self. /media/tinymce_upload/7aaf3c4fb4fec99db77b58f350020d65.JPG I can definitely recommend this little kit and am tempted by the two-tone grey 1980s scheme in the latest release. Although I am keen to get hold of the Buccaneer first.

Britmodeller run a timeline of various kits. Try searching for review and the kit. Most of the current Airfix range is relatively recent toolings. This year the older kits started being released in the Vintage Classics range which include tooling dates. The exceptions I am aware of are The Martin Marauder (1970s - kits of this era were pretty good on the whole), Apollo kits (1969) although the Saturn V got so updated tooling in the 70s but these were pretty good anyway. The Car starter sets are 1960s and the Hawk, Lightning, Eurofighter and Tucano were 1990s while the realeases of the Tornado, F-15,16 and 18 are 1980s.The Mk I/II and XIX Spitfires are fairly new but the others are various periods. Jeremy Brooks' book 60 years of Airfix models covers up to 2015. You can still find Red Boxed versions of the Halifax which dates to 1960. Amazing for its time but due for retirement. Feel free to ask about specific kits on the forum as you will find someone to offer advice on particular kits.

This is a nice kit. Looking forward to seeing the build.

Nice work. I built the kit back in the 70s. It is showing the age of the tooling with the exagertated rivet detail but looks great. A colleague of mine was in the Army and Ulster was the one place he got really scared. We need more of this sort of project to remind and inform people of what it was like.

Nice work. I love the Desert Air Force colour scheme. The Tomahawk is a great kit - my son (11) said it was his favourite when he did the 112 Squadron one. He is trying tofind a Macchi M202 Folgore to match it up with in a dogfight. A Kittyhawk would be nice as well, though the radiator cowling on these is larger so a new fuselage tooling would be needed. Itwould also be nice in 1/24as this is a very striking aircraft.

David has it right. If you have a scanner you may find it easier than with a photocopier.