Construction Kits

When you say not long ago how long exactly?

canberra;92618 wrote:

When you say not long ago how long exactly?

About 5 years.

SimonGee;92581 wrote:

And that appears to be the saga of Airifx. To us enthusiastic young lads in the sixties, dodgy scaling, cutting excess flash off and having to 'fettle' parts together seemed to be par for the course - we didn't know any better - ! Having experienced the more expensive, but VASTLY superior Tamiya mouldings since, I've realised how basic Airfix kits were and still are - !

Come come now, you clearly haven't dabbled in the latest of Airfix offerings. You said it yourself, Tamiya are more expensive, for me the difference was between being able to buy an Airfix kit out of my pocket money every week or having to wait for a "major" christmas present of something like a Tamiya. The joy of Airfix is the profusion of types available and yes the fettling! Where's the fun in just assembling something out of a box? There's no application of the craftsman's touch in getting something just right, or remodelling in to a different variant. As to the comment about how basic the Airfix kits still are, have you seen the 1:24 scale Mosquito? Or the recent rendition of the Valiant or Sea Vixen? Take another look at the newly tooled models and you might be surprised!

My favourite kit was the Swordfish which did require a fair amount of fettling but its certainly the one I've done my best job so far, I started on a vavelin some time ago & its still awaiting fettling.
Did anyone else make the 1:24 scale airfix spitfire and fit it with the electric motor?

No, the only 1/24 scale model I did was the Mustang.

Point taken Bigbear, but it'll have to wait until I've finished my twentieth model, a Wermacht Sd.kfz.250/9 halftrack; maybe a while yet - ! One thing that I do miss in these days of H & S is the combination of the heady fumes of evaporating polystyrene cement and enamel paint solvents. Bent in concentration over that lot for an hour at a time, who needed hallucinogenic drugs - !

Spot on there, however still enjoying that, I haven't made the switch to acrylic yet! Brings back the real meaning of a

canberra;92599 wrote:

The 1/72 B52 kit I made was made by Tamiya. And on the subject of models not seen, Airfix made a Comet why didnt they also do a Nimrod?

Tamiya did a 1:100 scale B-52, Monogram did a mighty 1:72nd kit of it which was just smaller than their B-36 Peacemaker which was the largest mainstream 1:72nd kit produced.

As mentioned, the excellent 1:72nd Airfix Nimrod is readily available.

Will you build the nimrod then hide it behind a screen before scrapping it?

buccaneer66;92644 wrote:

My favourite kit was the Swordfish which did require a fair amount of fettling but its certainly the one I've done my best job so far, I started on a vavelin some time ago & its still awaiting fettling.
Did anyone else make the 1:24 scale airfix spitfire and fit it with the electric motor?

There's a brand new tooling version of the Swordfish litrally just issued by Airfix, should be a must have.

Re Airfix in general, have to agree with Bigbear, the 1.48th Lightning, Sea Vixen, and Seafires were fantastic, and the 1:24th Mosquito exquisite.

I have made the 1:24th Stuka and have the Harrier GR.3 and Hurricane. They are fantastic kits, especially for their time, but they are better viewed as canvasses on which you should put in the effort to improve the details.