AIRFIX INCOMING 2014: FOLLAND GNAT 1:48 SCALE TWO-SEATER JET

Fans of British jets will welcome the new Airfix 1:48 scale Folland Gnat, well-known as the high-speed mount for RAF aerobatic teams of the past, such as the Yellowjacks and the Red Arrows. This Gnat is a step up in size for Airfix, which already has a new-tool 1:72 scale Gnat in the range.

NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK AVIATION MUSEUM: AIRCRAFT BIG AND SMALL ON DISPLAY, AND THERE'S FREE ENTRY!

Here’s a great place to go if you like the magic combo of old aircraft, nostalgia and memorabilia, with some fascinating models included in the mix.

SWITZERLAND BUYS SAAB GRIPEN - MEANS MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR MODELMAKERS

David Jefferis reports:

Ace news for Swedish aerospace company Saab this week, as Switzerland has decided to go for the Saab Gripen NG (New Generation) as its front-line combat jet. The Gripen has been a challenger for the 22-aircraft order, in a long-running competition between state-of-the-art fighters such as the Dassault Rafale, EFA Typhoon, and Boeing F/A-18.

DRAGON 1:72 SCALE SEA VIXEN

SMN report:

Here’s an unusual early jet-age choice from Hong Kong’s Dragon, a 1:72 scale de Havilland Sea Vixen FAW1. Coming so soon after the 1:48 scale kit from Airfix, does this one measure up to that bigger kit?

HIGHLY DETAILED METEOR JET TO 1:72 SCALE

SMN report:

There’s no apology for including another Dragon entry this week, as the Gloster Meteor F.3 is far and away the most detailed 1:72 scale kit of this important aircraft - the first Allied operational jet - that’s been made. It’s been out a while now, but this is the first time we’ve had a close look.

AIRFIX MODEL WORLD MAGAZINE - THE LAUNCH ISSUE

David Jefferis reports
Here we have 100 colour pages of the new and revived Airfix Magazine - well, it's now retitled Airfix Model World for 2010 - and a pretty good effort it is too. I’ve been involved with several magazine launches over the years, and know a little of the sweat and toil that goes into the first one. It’s always a steep learning curve and I doubt this launch AFW is an exception. So well done to the team involved.

What’s it like?
First off is the cover - and centre-spread - both of which feature the work of the Airfix ‘wunderkind’ box-artist, Adam Tooby. He’s already up there in the pantheon of the best - Roy Cross, at last you have a decent successor. Tooby manages to combine the precision of computer generated imagery with an artist’s touch for the finished work. I reckon we’ll see a few of his box-tops appearing as art prints before too long.

See inside
Editorial is wide-ranging, with a strong feature on the 1:48 Sea Vixen kit from Airfix, which has some very nice detail photographs, including closeups of the neatly-modelled observer’s cockpit and radarscope. Elsewhere we have articles on the 1:32 Aston Martin DBR9 racer, and a Hasegawa 1:48 F-4J Phantom II. There are also the expected extras, including news, skills, books, kits and decals. All in all, the mag makes a good read, with a flavour that’s not overly ‘Airfix’. In fact, I might want a bit more of this - there is lots of background detail to the company that I would be fascinated to learn about.
   
Space with Mat Irvine
I couldn’t finish without a mention of SMN’s own Mat Irvine, with his ‘Space Build’ feature. This one takes you through the Airfix 1:144 scale Saturn V, pulling no punches with its faults and features. Interesting article - nice one, Mat!

Visit Airfix here.

Visit Mat Irvine here.

Airfix Model World here.

COMING LATER THIS YEAR - AIRFIX SEA VIXEN

Here’s a tasty preview from Airfix of the upcoming 1:48 Hawker Siddeley Sea Vixen carrier-based jet. Due out in September the Sea Vixen is shown here in prototype form, created by an interesting machine that many of us would like in our back room.

It’s called a stereolithography apparatus (SLA) and is a cunning piece of kit that translates 2-D computer information - typically three-view plans - into a lifesize 3-D model. It’s created by squirting precisely-shaped layers of resin on top of each other, each one being hardened by a pass with an ultraviolet laser beam. SLA is only for prototyping though - as you can see from the pix here, there is no fine detail on the model yet. Small vents, panel lines, and other bits and pieces are added later, after the SLA prototype has been adjusted and approved.

The Airfix Sea Vixen will be the FAW.2 version that saw service with the Royal Navy from 1964, a flying career brought to a halt in 1972 by that bane of the UK military, defence cuts. When assembled the kit will be 340 mm (13.4 in) long with a wingspan of 317 mm (12.5 in).

The video was shot last year and shows the bulky twin-boom Sea Vixen very well indeed. One last point - despite appearances, it was a two-seater. The pilot sat under the offset canopy, while the observer sat to the right inside the fuselage, tucked away in a compartment nicknamed the ‘coal-hole’! You can see this clearly in the third picture above, complete with seat. Let's hope Airfix also includes some well sculpted crew figures as well.

The Airfix Sea Vixen is not due until the Autumn, but meantime there is the Xtrakit 1:72 scale Sea Vixen here, where there’s also the Supermarine Scimitar from the same jet era, though note that the caption and pic don’t match up!

Thanks to PlanesTV.com for the video.

IPMS favourite: SAM magazine review

It’s time for a look at the hardcopy mags, and SAM – Scale Aircraft Modelling – had a style update recently, so it’s a good one to choose. The cover says it’s voted “the modeller’s favourite magazine” by the UK IPMS (International Plastic Modeller’s Society), so let’s open one up.

The issue featured here is the latest copy, dated April 2009, and features an Airfix TSR-2 on the cover. Oddly, the image seems to be in mono: the 1:48 scale model is shown in colour inside, so maybe the designer thought it was a good Photoshop effect or something.

Still, that’s comment rather than criticism, and the rest of SAM makes up for it, with a total of 70 colour pages, printed on very good quality paper. The TSR-2 article includes a full build step-by-step, a useful how-to Tech Guide, and a 21-pic walkaround the two full-size aircraft, presently on display at the Duxford and Cosford air museums.

A nice SAM feature is the centre-spread, which folds out to show a really attractive set of scale drawings of the de Havilland Sea Vixen, by technical artist Mark Rolfe.

The back end of the mag is packed with new kit releases, accessories and other interesting stuff. You can visit SAM’s website here, where you can also find a FREE pdf download of a specimen issue, with the old-style front cover. SAM, we like the new one so much more! Available monthly, UK price £3.95GBP.