INCOMING: 1:72 SCALE BLACK-AND-WHITE BIPLANE FROM AIRFIX

PRE-ORDERS ARE BEING TAKEN for this new version of the 1:72 scale Airfix BE2c, a new-tool kit released late 2016.

LIMITED EDITION 2012 - QUEEN’S DIAMOND JUBILEE SHORTS TUCANO

SMN REPORT:

Here’s a new Limited Edition kit from Airfix, on release to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, on June 5, 2012.

BATTLE OF BRITAIN MEMORIAL KITS AND BOOK FROM AIRFIX

SMN report
70 years ago, the skies over Britain formed the backdrop for the greatest aerial combat offensive ever known, as attacking Luftwaffe forces locked in conflict with Royal Air Force defenders. On August 23, after several weeks of the campaign, Hermann Commander-in-Chief Hermann Goring ordered his forces to bombard British fighter airfields, the first of a wave of heavy attacks over the next two weeks, during which some airfields were hit several times over.

Targeting fighter bases must have seemed like a good move to Goring, but it was difficult to knock out a grass airfield for more than a few hours at a time, and many historians agree that had the Luftwaffe concentrated on reducing radar defences to rubble, the Battle of Britain might have turned out differently. In any event, by late October 1940, the Luftwaffe had taken a beating and withdrew plans for further major air assaults.

Thousands of aircraft in the air
But the Battle of Britain lives on as one of the defining conflicts of World War II, and the aircraft that took part (more than 4500 machines were fielded by the two air forces) remain as popular as ever with kit manufacturers. So it’s no surprise to see the local-hero Airfix company releasing some special Battle of Britain products this month.

Airfix Hurricane and Bf110
Airfix has released a Hawker Hurricane Mk 1, the most numerous British fighter of the Battle of Britain, even if its rather workmanlike looks and performance never earned it the acclaim of the beautiful Spitfire. It’s a nice kit though, to 1:72 scale, and comes with a choice of two decal marking sets. Matching the ‘Hurri’ is a German Messerschmitt Bf110 twin-engine heavy fighter, again to 1:72 scale and also with a choice of markings. The real Bf110 was no match in a dogfight with a determined Hurricane or Spitfire pilot, who could both out-turn and out-shoot it - after heavy losses, the Messerschmitt was withdrawn from front-line service over Britain. Both kits look attractive in the now common and highly attractive kit-box art style.

Battle of Britain book
Also released this month is a handsome book, the ‘Special limited edition’ Their Finest Hour: Aircraft of the Battle of Britain by John G. Bentley. It’s a thoroughly decent work, with 80 landscape-format (wide, instead of tall) pages that cover the subject well, with a special emphasis on featuring relevant Airfix kits. The book is well-priced too, with a UK price of just £6.99 GBP ($10.85 USD).
  
Visit Airfix here.

View Airfix kits here, though don’t be surprised if some Battle of Britain-class steam locomotive kits have crept in too - that’s search engines for you! Hmmm... (thinks), those BoB streamliner locos were handsome beasts, so we should look at some BoB models soon.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1  Airfix 1:72 scale Hurricane.
2  Airfix Bf110 box art.
3  The Bf110 builds into a neat and tidy 1:72 scale model.
4  The Airfix book makes a fine memento for those interested in this period of aviation combat history.

COMBAT AIRCRAFT OLD AND NEW FROM CORGI

If you like diecast aircraft, then you’ve a chance to add an interesting pair to your collection this month with these two from Corgi, a 1:72 scale BAC TSR-2 strike bomber and a 1:48 scale World War I Sopwith Camel.

We gave a brief heads-up on the TSR-2 on May 30 last year, and here it is, nicely finished in Cold War anti-flash white. Sad to say, the real aircraft became a political victim - despite the prototype XR219 flying in September 1964 and promising to be streets ahead of anything else in the sky, the project was scrapped. Yet in a bizarre twist of incompetence, the swing-wing F-111 ordered to replace it was also cancelled a few years later. So the Corgi model is as much a monument to political uselessness as it is to the diecaster’s art. It looks good though, and is quite a hefty beast, measuring nearly 15 in (380 mm) long.

The Sopwith Camel is an old-fashioned delight, and represents the red-striped aircraft flown by Flight Lieutenant Norman McGregor of 10 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) in late 1917, a unit that later became 210 Squadron of the fledgeling Royal Air Force (RAF) in April 1918. Corgi’s model shows off one advantage that ready-builts have over kits - the wire bracing is beautifully presented, and done so exactly that it challenges all but the most skilled model maker to beat the level of precision - certainly this reviewer couldn’t begin to match it.

To 1:48 scale the Camel is big enough - the wingspan is 180 mm (7.1 in) - to make a fine desk-top model, and with some careful weathering would look very fine in a mud-and-bullets World War I diorama setting.

Visit The Aviation Archive section of the Corgi online shop here.

You can buy the Corgi TSR-2 at a discount here.

There are several Corgi Sopwith Camels available, including McGregor’s aircraft here.

TAMIYA BRITISH LIGHT UTILITY VEHICLE

This is a neat addition to Tamiya’s range of 1:48 military vehicles, and will make a useful addition to any diorama featuring British military subjects of the World War 2 era.

The vehicle is pre-assembled (a trend that’s becoming stronger with every passing month) and is presented to Tamiya’s usual high production values. And, as ever, it’s a pleasure to see the Tamiya box has such thoughtful design and illustration, as well as the actual model.

A British Army version is already available, and the RAF version should be out soon, from model shops and online retailers, such as Hannants.