The Airfix Farewell GB from now until 1st Jan 2007

razordws wrote:

Jon, I'm sure Hannant's will do wonderful things with the Airfix brand.  Hopefully all those people at Airfix will get their jobs back too.

I'd been thinking about that myself. More important than paints or model kits are people. Hopefully, this will be a nice Christmas present for the Airfix folks! 

The Spitfire IX is done!

I enjoyed this kit. There were some problems, however. The correct wings for the Mk. IX fit horribly- upper and lower pieces I mean. Just plain weren't the same size. So I used the other set that came with the kit, which has raised wheel bulges. I could've sanded them, but decided it wasn't too bad, and I'm not much of a rivet counter. The decal roundels on the upper wing were pretty bad- for some odd reason, the left ones had a black circle around the outer edge. I finally scraped thoe off and used the yellow ringed versions. The wings are a bit thick, and the propellor is oddly shaped.

Still- it was a fun build. It was challenging overcoming the aforementioned issues. The model was nicely detailed, and certainly could be a scratch builders dream. In many ways it was like building a Revell-Monogram kit (which I'm more familiar with.) This kit does not have the engineering that the Tamigawa kits do, but when you compare the price to the result- well, I'll usually go with the lower price. I build for the fun, not absolute accuaracy. And the box was packed with so many sprues of parts, you could build quite a few versions.

I decided to forego weathering- I just did a panel wash. Had some trouble getting some off here and there, but nothing too terrible. (My wife switched soaps on me- I think that may have altered the wash a bit.)

So here are a few shots of my Airfix Spitfire Mk. IX. I started the build to say goodbye to Airfix, and now happily, I can say "Welcome back- take a look at one of your kits!"

She'll take a space on my shelf alongside a 1/48 Revell Spitfire Mk. II. 

I picked up a little hand drill at Hobby Lobby, and used that to drill out the exhaust stacks. There shape made it a bit tricky. I drilled out a hole at either end of the exhaust, then used an Xacto to cut out the rest. It's not perfect, but I think it worked pretty darn well! (Wish I could get a clearer picture...)

I had a great time in this GB. This was a nice kit. Certainly not shake-and-bake, but it ends up looking good, I think. 

Thanks Steve and Karl!  As this is an OOB build it will be pretty straight forward Karl but thanks for the tip on the article.

Jon, I'm sure Hannant's will do wonderful things with the Airfix brand.  Hopefully all those people at Airfix will get their jobs back too.

Dave, great progress on the Meatbox.

There was an article in Military In Scale earlier in the year about sprucing up the the Airfix kit. Looked great by the time it was finished, as I am sure yours will.

BTW has anyone seen the review over on Hyperscale for the new Meteor from Hannants? 

Jon, good news about Airfix.

The current management team at Hornby have a good reputation for turning brands around, as they have already done just that with Hornby model trains, and Scalextric.

Karl 

I sent an email to Hornby's to thank them for bringing Airfix back to life. I know they'll have my support. I received this nice reply:

Thanks for your kind comments. It's only 10 working days since we completed
the deal and our priority has been to secure the assets we have acquired. We
will almost certainly use the product listed in the 2006 catalogue as the
base for the initial 2007 range with additions later in the year.

Kind regards....Nick Cole

Sounds like next year could bring great things from Airfix- old and new!

---- EDIT ----

Just read an interesting report on Airfix over at IMPSStockholm. Seems they actually had a booth at Teleford in the UK IPMS show. They had some partial test shots of a Spitfire Mk. I with 2 and 3 blade options and a flat or bulged canopy. K5054anyone?

The report says they've also recovered their molds from Heller.

Nice progress on the Meteor David. Looks like you will catch up and be finished on time.

Steve

As Promised

Ahhh... vintage Airfix!  

Wow... two years in the Caribean!!!   Where do I sign up.  Seriously, sounds awesome Osher.  Wish you the best of luck and do drop in once in awhile with some scenic pics from the beaches

Traveller, you first have to find a host site on the web.  Either through your own web page or you can use a free host site such as www.photobucket.com Once you have that just follow the instructions on the forum faq.  Look forward to seeing some pics.

 I finally pulled out the Meteor on the weekend and got started.  It looks like a decent kit with good fit (for airfix) and the clearest canopy I've ever seen from airfix.  I'll post some pics shortly.

jwb wrote:

osher wrote: I'm afraid that I will not be able to host this GB shortly.  Unfortunately (well, not really unfortunately), I will be soon stuck (or rather, enjoying) for 2 years in the Caribbean.  It's a hard life!  However, seriously, I doubt I'll be able to model out there, so, my time here is almost done. Moving for work? What will you be doing?

Working in telecommunications.  I'm a systems accountant, that is, I'm an accountant, but I specialise in systems work, such as finding problems in the way accounts are handled, etc.  Anyway, I'll be doing that in the Caribbean for the next 2 years!

Hey Osher, I guess that sounds like good news I mean what a lovely place to be and all that. Certanly hope you can stay connected with us plastic nuts and continue to do some building. I wish you well and thanks for a great GB idea. Cheers Mate.

Steve

well as long as you have a link you can keep up with us here though

Osher

osher wrote:

I'm afraid that I will not be able to host this GB shortly.  Unfortunately (well, not really unfortunately), I will be soon stuck (or rather, enjoying) for 2 years in the Caribbean.  It's a hard life!  However, seriously, I doubt I'll be able to model out there, so, my time here is almost done.

Moving for work? What will you be doing?

I'm afraid that I will not be able to host this GB shortly.  Unfortunately (well, not really unfortunately), I will be soon stuck (or rather, enjoying) for 2 years in the Caribbean.  It's a hard life!  However, seriously, I doubt I'll be able to model out there, so, my time here is almost done.

I am so glad someone asked what a nut pick was, I was scratching my head trying to figure out what John was on about. Sounds like a tool I have also.

Sorry to hear about your canopy troubles Osher. Sometimes the kit just gets the best of you and you have to just move on with it. Looking forward to seeing the finished model.

Steve.

jwb wrote:

osher wrote: Thanks for that.  I'm not sure what a nut pick is, but, I get the idea.  A coffee filter is rough paper? A nut pick (I know.... odd name) is a small metal piece with a slightly curved end. The back side of the end is rounded works perfect. You can buy a burnishing tool- but a nut pick is the same thing. A nut pick is used for getting the meat out of walnuts, etc. A coffee filter from an automatic coffee maker is rough, but it's very fine and not real abrasive. Again- you could buy some very fine grade sandpaper, but we've got hundreds of coffee filters in our cabinet. It works just as well and costs far, far less.

Ah, I see, well, I use dental tools (sold in modelling shops), one of which sounds like your nut pick. Thanks!   As for the coffee filter paper, that's an excellent idea!  Thanks for that too. 

osher wrote:

Thanks for that.  I'm not sure what a nut pick is, but, I get the idea.  A coffee filter is rough paper?

A nut pick (I know.... odd name) is a small metal piece with a slightly curved end. The back side of the end is rounded works perfect. You can buy a burnishing tool- but a nut pick is the same thing. A nut pick is used for getting the meat out of walnuts, etc.

A coffee filter from an automatic coffee maker is rough, but it's very fine and not real abrasive. Again- you could buy some very fine grade sandpaper, but we've got hundreds of coffee filters in our cabinet. It works just as well and costs far, far less.

jeff wrote:

Got to get serious again with the E-3.

For my MiG, I've decided to call it a day where it is.  The canopy has excess paint, but I've reached a point where it's become more of a struggle than a challenge!  The sides show where I've had to touch it up.  Yep, silver is the hardest colour to paint, I painted my wee MiG silver.... Pictures tomorrow (need to find the camera first!)

jwb wrote:

I just used plain blue masking tape. I use the back edge of a nut pick as a burnishing tool, and it works great. If you get the tape down tight, it works very well. When I'm done, I use a coffee filter to sand down any build up along the edges.

osher wrote:

Hey Jon, that Spit's looking great!  Such good hard-edged masking too, how did you do it?

Thanks so much! 

I just used plain blue masking tape. I use the back edge of a nut pick as a burnishing tool, and it works great. If you get the tape down tight, it works very well.

When I'm done, I use a coffee filter to sand down any build up along the edges.

It started out OOB, and is essentially OOB except that the antennae were damaged in a plane trip, so I made some bogus new ones.

Anyway, here's the build-up.

and, painted, decalled and on a Matchbox Comet base:

KJ200 wrote:

Jon, great job on the Spit. Looking forward to seeing it complete. Karl

Thanks! 

Jon, great job on the Spit.

Looking forward to seeing it complete.

Karl 

sidure wrote:

Hey JWB, nice progress on the Spit, very good looking build and you should be done soon by the looks of things. Got two Spits in progress myself and hope they come out that well. Have a quick question for ya on it by the way,  is it me or does the port side roundel have a black outer circle on it where the other does not??. Steve

Yeah- it's actually dark blue. It's not quite as stark in person, but it's really weird. It lloked a bit darker on the decal sheet, but once it got on- it just sorta popped out. I'm not sure why that one was printed that way. I'm gonna find a replacement for those.... probably just use one of the other kit ones- the blue and red version. The other decals were pretty good- 'ceptin that one.

I actually wondered for a minute if it was meant to be there. But checking the color references for decal placement that Airfix supplied, it did not show that. 

Hey JWB, nice progress on the Spit, very good looking build and you should be done soon by the looks of things. Got two Spits in progress myself and hope they come out that well. Have a quick question for ya on it by the way,  is it me or does the port side roundel have a black outer circle on it where the other does not??.

Steve

Great looking builds all! I've got some catching up to do.

I began putting on the decals for my Spitfire last night. Here's a few pics: 

Karl, Mike and SD.  Some great looking builds going on in this GB. It's great to see the old Boomerang kit and well done on it. Beautiful paint job on that Dora and 504K with the rigging is breathtaking. My 504K is half built and I think I will have to pause and think of how to finish it now with rigging. This GB really showes what a little extra work can do for the Airfix line. I dont think they are as bad as people tend to think. Glad they will continue to produce their line of great kits.

Steve

Nice job guiys! Your models look fantastic! Thanks for posting those great pics!

That was the first time I'd ever seen a Boomerang too! Thanks for that!