Ian-358801

I subscribed as a Christmas present, and my 2nd issue, dated March 2024, has just arrived. It has 6 full build articles, only one of which is Airfix plus 5 in-box reviews and 21 quick reviews, none of which are Airfix. However, that article - how to improve the accuracy of the Airfix Black Buck Vulcan - was just the type of thing I’d like to see. Without the Airfix on the outside I would never have thought it had any pretence to Airfix, except perhaps as a synonym for ‘plastic modelling’ that oldies like me grew up with. oh, such is life. Perhaps I’m just getting old.

I much prefer the old Airfix magazine to the current Airfix Model World. The old magazine was full of Airfix models and projects well within the skills of an average modeller, for example the one I did of converting the Polish lancer to a WW1 German cavalryman. The new one, not produced by Airfix, features mainly non-Airfix works of art produced by skilled modellers using a wide range of expensive products and tools - all very interesting but of limited value to my modelling. I feel like a basic paint-by-numbers guy watching Rembrandt at work. if there was a magazine for more basic modellers like myself then I’d subscribe but they all seem to be aimed at far more skilled and committed modellers than me.

I’m getting back into it all again, feeling like a paint-by-numbers man in a room of Rembrandts. My best advice is to treat it all as a learning exercise - have fun rather than worry about the result - and look at YouTube videos. Airbrushing is a subject in itself, so assuming you don’t have access to one, 1/35 tanks take me a surprisingly long time to paint by brush so consider using rattle can primers, colours and varnishes. As to comments on the forum, Facebook groups seem to have taken over, which is a shame as advice is harder to search for there.

From my experience today they are adding items as they go. I looked for some paints and found no change on the sale around 10 am today. When I came back at 12 to check my order and pay I found the Black Friday section had a whole bunch of kits I’d not seen before. For me personally, the good news was that it contained some kits that I was planning to buy along with some that I wasn’t, which saved me money*. The bad news was that the items I recently got in my tanks bundle have now all been in the sale; that said, I still had the thrill of gambling on what I’d get and I’m probably still a few pennies up. *If you buy at half price something that’ll languish in your stash, have you saved money at half price or wasted the half price cost? Discuss.

The choice is pretty limited compared to the offering earlier this year. Furthermore, most have been in the offer before. That's disappointing for me but, at the end of the day, they are aimed at getting newcomers into modelling, not people like me who'll be posting here. I'm also relaxed about any money saving, as my paying more from Airfix is their gain, a zero sum game where any effort on my part to go to Aldi is a loss (it's a 7 mile drive each way to my nearest, although it could be an excuse to get my cycle out for exercise). I'm more interested in any Quick-Build models as that will tempt me to buy some for my step-grandson. I can't see any listed in my internet searches and he's got so many toys at home that it'll be a build-and-forget exercise leaving me with a storage issue. I'd like to introduce him to the starter kits but he's got ADHD and I think it's still too early; that said, at the Aldi price what's to lose, apart from my wife's ire over paint spilled on her table?

I picked up the following from my nearest Lidl at Horley: Spitfire Mk1a Gnat Yellowjacks Tomahawk Willys Jeep Tiger 1 Sherman Firefly. They also had a range of the Quickkits (Spitfire, Me109, F35 Lightning, Harrier, Red Arrows Gnat and 2 cars (Lambo Aventador, McClaren)).

I feel your pain. I recently took up the hobby again after over 40 years away. The kits, ancillaries and standards achieved have changed out of all recognition. My skills and achievements are like paint-by-numbers to a Rembrandt, which all those YouTube videos, the social media, the magazines in Smiths shout at me. That alone would cause me your pain, without the medical condition that makes even simplest tasks a mental and physical struggle. More than once I’ve put everything away, demotivated by the gap between my achievements and aims. But each time I come back stronger by imagining myself as a journeyman Sunday park football player, having fun before retiring to the pub to watch the Premier League players on TV. If anyone thinks my efforts in this hobby are poor then that says far more about them than it does about me. This is a few years on from the first post. I hope you’re having fun.

Thanks all for that and your time. You’ve put my mind at rest. I've just renewed and got the 10% discount, something else not explicit in the comms (yes, we get 10% off orders but I couldn’t find anything saying membership was an order for this purposes). Ratch, good point. I did think of calling Airfix but thought putting it here would help others more and I was short of time and couldn’t call yesterday. Adrian, I got the same email but the header was ‘Three reasons you should join the club’ which was ambiguous as I had already joined. I look forward to seeing you all on the forum in the coming year

I cannot find whether or not renewing members get the bonus model, the Meteor for 2023. I assume it is as the annual fee is the same, but I could be wrong. I have an interest in Meteors having worked with them so would kick myself if I missed out by renewing rather than lapsing and joining. Can someone please clarify? Edit: To help new readers, the answer is yes, you do, and you get 10% discount. Thanks again to everyone who helped answer this.

Thanks again for the tips. I found that a small vice and a cork board with pins to be very useful. I struggled with small parts, albeit a large chunk of Blutack helped in cutting them off runners. I therefore limited myself to more basic models and figure painting (where my injury was a great excuse to cover up for my lack of painting skills, akin to doing paint-by-numbers when others here are relative Rembrandts . . . .). I limited myself to painting with brushes, finding masking to be too difficult. In summary, carrying on modelling is fine one-handed provided you can live with lower expectations (it's meant to be fun after all, and we mostly do it for ourselves).

Thank you. That adds to the ideas that I had. Some priorities have got in my way so I’ll probably have to wait until the weekend for my first test runs. I’ll update this in due course. I did think of trying to persuade my wife that filing and filling are good practice for her hobbies, leaving me to do the more fun bits, but I don’t want to risk another week living in the garden shed. I’m already in her bad books after I led her to offer to buy me a Border Model’s Lancaster for my birthday (“It’s only 7” I said; it’s not my fault she thought £ not £100, is it?) only to see myself hoisted by my own petard as she used a strategy I often use on her: “Yes, I’ll honour that, but I didn’t say for which birthday, did I?”. Let’s hope I live to 120 to get it.

Before I start experimenting with vices, clamps and the like, Does anyone have any tips for modelling one-handed? I ask as, having returned to the hobby and making a handful of models, I have now injured my left (non-dominant) hand. All the bits are there, but effectively my forearm, wrist, thumb and fingers will be rigid for a couple of months. The best I can do is wedge something between my fingers but can’t apply pressure. I saw the film My Left Foot a long time ago but I think I’m neither supple nor talented enough to benefit.