2012 INCOMING - NEW AIRFIX KITS AND ACCESSORIES

SMN update:

The 2012 Airfix catalogue is with us, and the company has a host of tasty new products in the pipeline for the coming year. Here’s a look at some of the good stuff to come.

Big scale helicopters

Airfix is making a name for big helicopters, and here we have two in 1:48 scale. The AgustaWestland Merlin HC3 is a medium-lift tactical machine, and one that’s often seen flying nap-of-the-earth training missions around SMN Towers, announcing its presence with a throaty roar from the triple engines. The Airfix kit will feature a rear loading ramp, plus the assortment of pods, humps, bumps and antennas that sprout from the capacious fuselage of this army combat machine. The model will look good when paired with the Supacat AFVs coming soon from Airfix. 

Lynx helo

The 1:48 scale Westland Lynx comes in three versions, with markings to match. The kit assembles to show that the Lynx is a smaller machine than the Merlin, with a length - even at 1:48 scale - of 318 mm (12.5 in), compared with the Merlin’s 407 mm (16 in). Both kits feature the shovel-shaped rotor tips used on these types, an aerodynamic design feature that combines increased blade lift, while also reducing noise levels.

Ships

The Type 45 is the British Royal Navy’s latest destroyer design - one is being deployed to the Persian Gulf just this week - and this kit is to big 1:350 scale, making it ideal for showing off the slab-sided stealth features. At this scale the kit should build to a length of some 435 mm (17.13 in).   

Automotive

The latest Ford Fiesta is a big sales success in all markets where it is sold, so it’s good to see Airfix bringing us a 1:32 scale rally version. Wide wheels, aerofoils, antennas and assorted body mods make this storming machine much more impressive than the cooking road car, so all the better to build a kit of it. Nice too, that it’s to the same scale as Scalextric cars from the same Hornby group of companies.

AFVs

The Supacat Coyote is a 6x6 tactical support vehicle that’s a big brother to the Supacat Coyote, also coming from Airfix this year. Both vehicles are in production for the British Army, and we’re pleased to see that 1:48 scale has been selected, making either or both models ideal for diorama displays with other modern weapon systems, especially those Airfix helicopters.

World War II

Excellent news in this department, with a 1:72 scale Spitfire F22 leading the pack. This later-model ‘Spit’ had a five-bladed propeller, retractable tailwheel and bubble canopy. A nice addition to the 1:72 collection, as will be the biplane Fairey Swordfish floatplane. This was an SMN ‘please make’ request when the standard wheeled Swordfish was announced last year, so we’ll be up for this one, just as soon as it’s available.

Photo-etch accessories and add-on parts

Airfix is getting into the aftermarket business with items like this bag of photo-etch accessories for the Supacat Jackal/Coyote. Some might say this is a clever way to keep kit costs down by leaving bits out of the box, but we say it’s a good option for specialists, as mass-market buyers - prime taget for Airfix - are unlikely to want such stuff. Either way, an interesting development for Airfix, as is the Photo-Reconnaissance (PR) and Refueller parts set for the Airfix Valiant V-bomber kit. Note to Airfix btw - spelling on the package header should be: “Refueller”, not “Refeuller”. We're looking forward to many more Airfix 'detail-plus' packs in future.

Summation

It’s going to be a busy year for the revitalized Airfix, with plenty to keep modelmakers busy throughout 2012. We’ve only touched on the new-stuff list here - for other items, visit Airfix here.

More Airfix kits here.

APPROACHING TOUCHDOWN - AIRFIX 1:72 SCALE VICKERS VALIANT V-BOMBER

SMN report

The Airfix 2011 catalogue promised the Valiant earlier this year (SMN story here), and the 1:72 scale kit is now coming in to land, with general sales expected around May 10. The subject is the four-engine Vickers-Armstrong Valiant jet bomber, developed after World War II to counter the Soviet threat in the early days of the Cold War. The swept-wing Valiant was the first design to fly of the ‘V-Force’, three British bombers designed to penetrate Soviet airspace and deliver nuclear weapons in the event of the Cold War turning hot. 

In the model world, there has been little shortage of the other two V-bombers, the dramatic-looking Handley-Page Victor, and the big-delta Avro Vulcan, but the comparatively no-frills Valiant has been something of a Cinderella. Still, here we are now with what looks a very interesting kit indeed.

Prototype Valiant about to land at the UK Farnborough Air Show, 1951.

What’s in the box

Boxed in the Airfix latest style, there are 142 components to this 1:72 scale kit of the BK Mk1 version. It should build into a decent sized model, with a wingspan of 488 mm (19.2 in) and length of 456 mm (17.9 in). Detailed undercarriage parts show off the Valiant’s relatively unusual tandem-layout mainwheels, while under the wings are slung the large tanks which boosted the Valiant’s range. Airfix has included decals for four different aircraft, and as now seems to be standard practise, the schemes are available as detailed pdf downloads from the Airfix site. 

Marking schemes available as downloads from Airfix.

Other kits

There have been Valiants before, including the 1:144 scale diecast from Corgi, and kits from Contrail and Mach 2, but this is a mainstream injection kit, and it looks to be well worthwhile. We’re in the queue for this, the BK1 version of the first RAF aircraft to drop a live UK atomic bomb, on test in 1956.

Examples of Mach 2 (front) and Contrail Valiants.

Prototype picture courtesy the Aircraft Engine Historical Society, Inc, here.

Valiant models above, courtesy the forum here.

Visit Airfix for information and marking schemes here.

Online suppliers are taking pre-orders, including Wonderland Models here.

AIRFIX VICKERS VALIANT DISPLAYED AT NUREMBERG TOY FAIR

SMN report

Today's the last day of this year's Toy Fair, and it has certainly lived up to expectations, with many attractive kits due for release through 2011.

British nuclear bomber

Here’s the hotly awaited 139-part Vickers Valiant V-bomber kit from Airfix, just seen on display on the Airfix stand at Nuremberg Toy Fair 2011. The display model has been finished in anti-flash white overall, with the pale RAF roundels that went with that finish. Markings for the ‘Val’ are included for four versions, including a camouflage scheme.

Valiant available soon

The Valiant has been largely ignored by mainstream manufacturers over the years, so it’s good to see the gap filled, at least in 1:72 scale. To this reviewer, the Valiant has always been the Plain-Jane of the British V-bomber trio, but none the less important for all that. The kit will be available soon.

More info from Airfix here.

Thanks to our friends at Toy Collector for the heads-up on this model.