Beavering away

An older build from six years ago, this is the Airfix 1/72 DHC Beaver. Tooled in the late 70s, this is one of those really nice but often overlooked Airfix classics. True, there's not a lot of cockpit detail and it's covered in rivets, but it builds so well and really looks the part. I was attracted to this scheme by the dayglo panels, but having seen several of these flying in Harbour Air colors in Nanaimo and Victoria BC recently, I wouldn't mind doing a civilian floatplane version some day.

Percival's younger brother

Hot on the tail of the S&M piston-engined Provost was this build of the jet variant, the new-tool Airfix 1/72 Jet Provost JP.3. This was a pre-release version built for Airfix Model World mag so there were no decals, but fortunately Xtradecals had just released their set for the kit. The build itself was simple and straightforward enough, with just a couple of glitches and omissions, mainly the various intakes on the fuselage spine and the spurious centre-frame on the canopy which had to be removed. Great little kit though, I really enjoyed it.

What's on the box?

The resurgence of Airfix over the last few years has been due in no small part to its superb marketing and branding operation, in which the boxes themselves play a significant role. According to the Airfix Tribute Forum there have been at least sixteen distinct box styles, plus variations, since the brand began back in the 1950s. Having begun my modelling journey some time in the mid-60s, I could probably chronicle my life alongside the evolution of Airfix packaging (a future blog post, perhaps).

Classic Roy Cross B-17G 

The Airfix Blenheim Mk.IV box illustration, painted by Roy Cross

One of Roy Cross's best known Airfix box art images, the Avro Lancaster

For many, Roy Cross will always be the Airfix box art illustrator, and I certainly feel a strong affinity with his work – the stick of bombs falling from B-17G 'A Bit O'Lace', the blazing engine on the Lanc as it makes a sunset landing, an Israeli Mirage shooting up MiG-15s on the ground. However I also feel that the current red-box style with its computer generated imagery is probably the strongest and most effective branding that Airfix has yet achieved. Just as importantly, the quality of the new-tool kits inside now matches that of the box art, which has not always been the case. The majority of these new box top illustrations have been created by UK-based Adam Tooby.

On a forum recently I read a post dismissing Adam's artwork as 'just computer art', as if it had no artistic merit, or was simply generated with the click of a mouse (File> Filter> Create Hurricane II). A few months ago I got hold of a copy of Mr. Tooby's book, 'Warbirds – the Aviation Art of Adam Tooby', which goes a long way to dispelling any such misconceptions. The book is a superb collection of aircraft illustrations, some reproduced across two pages (the Lanc across a 3-page fold out), accompanied by informational text about each type. However there's also a section which delves into the artist's creative process which makes fascinating reading. Each of Adam Tooby's illustrations is rich in colour, beautifully composed and incredibly detailed.

Without wishing to sound too melodramatic, the art of Roy Cross defined a generation – of kit-building schoolboys, at any rate. Perhaps Adam Tooby's work is defining a new generation (or maybe it's the same one but now with expendable income and reading glasses).

The book is available directly from Adam Tooby's website, and he offers to sign copies too. (I'd have really liked that option but cheaped out, having found a retailer offering free shipping.)

Slow start

Despite my best intentions at the beginning of the year, 2014 is turning out to be somewhat lacking in the model production area. The only completion so far is the Airfix 1/72 P-51D, a humble kit that has all the makings of a classic and a serious contender for the best 1/72 Mustang kit in my opinion – if not in tooling quality (though it's very nicely done), certainly in value. For a change I finished it as a restored warbird, 'Stang', having seen and photographed the real aircraft in a museum in Arizona. The spurious blue camo appealed to my contrary side (much like the red 'Millie P' on the old Revell box top which I'd love to do some time). The only change I had to make was to add a second seat in the cockpit and create the ALPS-printed decals.

Oh, and thanks Nigel for the gentle push to post again!

AMMS Contest 2013

I spent the day at this year's Alberta Military Modellers' Show, held at the Military Museum in Calgary. Originally an armour-only contest, in the last few years it's been opened up to military models from all genres. Over the next few days I'll post pics, starting with some of the 1/72 entries.

Mike Tanguay's 1/72 Airfix Bf110 

Mike Tanguay's 1/72 Airfix Bf110 

MPM 1/72 SAAF Boston III by Massimo Santarossa

MPM 1/72 SAAF Boston III by Massimo Santarossa

Sword 1/72 Vultee P-66 Vanguard by Dan Mackay

Sword 1/72 Vultee P-66 Vanguard by Dan Mackay

Special Hobby 1/72 RCAF Digby Mk. 1 by Massimo Santarossa

Special Hobby 1/72 RCAF Digby Mk. 1 by Massimo Santarossa
 

1/72 Revell CH-135 Twin Huey

What-if 1/72 CAF MiG-31

Summer Blues

As we approach the beginning of September it's alarming to me that my last blog post was at the end of March; five months later I'm still in the same state of modelling lethargy. Over the last few months I've barely touched plastic, which I can attribute to various factors. Firstly, it just feels downright wrong to head downstairs to the bench in the basement while my wife's on the deck in the hot sunshine... Secondly, I'm feeling burnt out after a few years of intensive article writing, working to deadlines and cataloguing every stage – I enjoy it, but it can begin to feel more like work than recreation. Thirdly, several (though fortunately not all) of the forums that I used to visit on a daily basis for inspiration seem to have been taken over by snide, cynical, short-fused posters. And now the English Premier League is on TV again, how am I supposed to get any building done at weekends?

The last completion, back in February, was an Airfix 1/72 Curtiss Helldiver. Any rational person wanting a SB2C model would have started with the beautifully engineered, reasonably priced, readily available, highly accurate Academy kit. In my defense I was asked by the editor of Airfix Model World to build the old 1968 kit (albeit in a new box with lovely decals). To be honest, I probably derived more enjoyment/satisfaction from updating this old beast than I would have from building the state-of-the-art Academy kit, although the latter would undoubtedly have been way more accurate and a nicer model. The full build article has just been published in the September issue of AMW.

Dragon on a stick

Well, one of the kits from the previous post is finished, the Airfix 1/72 Saab Draken. It has several inaccuracies but still looks the part. A scratchbuilt cockpit was added and the model was rescribed, decals are my own. The base is a simple acrylic block and part of a paintbrush handle, sprayed black.

I've started so I'll...

I've always considered myself a 'one kit at a time' sort of modeller, but in the last few years I've strayed a bit and have ended up with several builds on the go at once.


Special Hobby 1/72 Bell X-1
Last worked on: December 2010
Status: Stalled due to canopy fit issues. I'd masked and painted the canopy once but scuffed the masking so many times trying to attach it to the model that I pulled all the masking off, meaning I'll have to do it all over again. To make matters worse I'd tried clamping the canopy in place last time which caused stress marks on the clear part; I'm hoping they won't show up too much when it's done. I've been unable to find pictures of the real X-1's canopy open – it's either closed or removed completely.

Hasegawa 1/72 Mitsubishi J8M1 Shusui
Last worked on: October 2011
Status: Stalled due to laziness in adding cockpit detail. The kit was given to me already started; someone had nicely airbrushed the interior with Aotake, that metallic blue-green colour. However from what I can gather the Shusui, Japan's version of the Me163, had its cockpit painted in Mitsubishi green so I re-sprayed the interior. The original intention had been to build the kit straight out-of-box but the clear parts are so good they show up the model's deficiencies in this area, so some detail will have to be added. Probably just a seat back, harness, instrument panel and consoles, but I hate doing that stuff...

 

Airfix 1/72 Saab Draken

Last worked on: 30 January, 2012

Status: Current. All of the heavy raised surface detail has been sanded off and the basic airframe is together, so now it's lots of sanding and filling and preparing for paint. This one will be mounted on a base in flying mode, so all of the pesky undercarriage parts have been consigned to the spares box and – gasp – I've painted a pilot. My figure painting skills need work.

 

Airfix 1/72 Spitfire PR.XIX

Last worked on: September 2011

Status: Stalled due to loss of interest. I've already built one of these and have to say that it was an enjoyable project but I was never quite happy with the heaviness of the panel lines. For the second attempt I filled all of the surface detail with liquefied styrene (achieved by soaking offcuts of sprue in a jar of Tamiya liquid poly cement). After a couple of applications it seems to have worked, but maybe too well. It's a beggar to sand smooth, and having done so I just put everything back in the box until I could rekindle the interest.

Tamiya 1/35 Super Pershing conversion

Last worked on: Oh heck. July 2009

Status: Stalled, due to individual track links. This was one of those projects, inspired by a great build in Tamiya magazine, for which I bought every after-market set going including the Accurate Armour Super Pershing resin update and an Aires engine. Everything was going (reasonably) well until it came time to do the tracks, and I chickened out. On numerous occasions I've pulled the kit out, looked at the parts, quietly put it back. However, there's hope: an armour-building mate has offered to sit down and show me how to assemble them, so this kit may re-surface some time soon.

 

American Bulldog

The Bristol Bulldog was an RAF inter-war fighter, also successfully exported to several countries including Finland, Denmark and Latvia. My model depicts the first of two examples sent to the U.S. for evaluation, which crashed after an aileron failure during a dive.

It's the old Airfix 1/72 kit, originally released in 1970. I didn't have to do much to it – a bit of cockpit detailing, replacing some of the heavier details and rigging with stainless steel wire.