Oh, Airfix...

Oh, Airfix…

Like scores and scores of modelers I owe a debt of gratitude to many kit and hobby products’ manufacturers. What would we do without them. In the Airfix case this is especially valid for the period of my childhood. So many hours of delight, fun, excitement and dreaming awake.

But not so much lately, as the hobby universe expanded and many other players came to the field, and Airfix seemed to struggle to remain relevant.

Of course, I have purchased and happily built to satisfaction a number of their newer releases, but also out of nostalgia tackled some of the civil classics of yore. I must say: I was struggling to keep a smile. 

Now we know that Airfix loves for some reason to bestow upon the unaware modeling masses “Modeling Refried Beans”. Generally, I don’t blame people for wanting to make money, if it is in the right way. We know those Airfix molds are looooong amortized. And yes, many modelers, me included, love a trip to Memory Lane. But it needs to be done with dignity, and criteria, not just cranking up sub-par dodos. I am ashamed to see their old DH Comet still "in print", among many examples. What have newcomers -perhaps kiddos- done to deserve that kit?

You will find in this blog some Airfix nostalgia builds. Unfortunately I utterly regretted a couple of them, like the Fairey Rotodyne, which is a despicable kit by today’s standards in so many regards: fit, accuracy, faulty instructions, bad decals, etc. If Airfix has to choose a subject for their “Refried Beans” program (instead of concentrating in keeping up with the rapidly improving and evolving modeling universe) please be that a reasonably good kit…and at least bother to improve it a little bit, purge the instructions of mistakes, and add a part or two plus new decal options.

So, here is my current build of the Airfix Shorts Skyvan, started many months ago, a conversion to a modified sort of Skyliner with the addition of an aftermarket set from IPMS Austria (thanks Rainer and Sönke again) and an “in the works” Arctic Decals set:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2025/11/shorts-skyvan-laboratory-of-space.html

In that post the desire is expressed that aftermarket manufacturers would provide new engines/props/details for this very old kit… in need of help. Or that some valiant kit manufacturer will take it upon themselves to provide a new Skyvan, as it is high time for that indeed…

Today I saw that Airfix will be soon re-releasing this kit, again as part of their “Refried Beans” program. For what I can see on Airfix site/blog, it will come with nothing new regarding the old, tired, outdated, ill-fitting parts, dubious transparencies and too prominent rivets. Even the decal sheet has still an old, arch-seen option, together with a new one that will drive modelers mad with its utterly complex masking (masks NOT provided). Of the literally hundreds of beautiful schemes is that the one to provide? I also look forward to see how the mouth decal of this second option will wrap around the complex volume of the nose. This second scheme was perhaps chosen for a reason as inane as looking like a quasi-military camo. And the cherry on top of the cake, Airfix will finally “include” (not) new prop options… in the form of 3D-printing files to be downloaded! because you know, every modeler has a 3D-printer at home? … I mean, C’mon! Hey, why don’t you print or mold those props yourself, lazy Airfix, surely won’t break your piggybank? and what about a thimble nose, like the one many of them used? Better wheels? Better “normal” props? Cabin windows that won’t look like a distorted jello? The molds have paid for themselves ages ago; invest a pound or two, will you?

The old Skyvan kit has no doubt been a success, many of them can be seen built online and seemingly are amongst modelers’ favorites. Including me. It deserves better than a release that fixes none of the known and many kit´s issues, and adds nothing to it but a cheeky “DYI” and a “faux camo” scheme. "Exciting" marketing is not a substitute for quality. 

I don't mind old kits. I don't mind simple kits. On any media. This blog is full to the brim with them. I like and enjoy a challenge. But please notice that we are in 2026. If you are doing a re-release, work a bit on it, add something, fix something, don't just pull a fast one with colorful marketing. You are no small one-man outfit or cottage industry. You (Hornby Hobbies Ltd/Hornby PLC) are a corporation. You have the means and resources. (And, as you also own Humbrol, would you please have a look at color/density/formula consistency of the enamels? lately the tinlets -that I have used all my life, many decades- are driving me nuts).

 

What have I learned in 58 years of scale modeling

What have I learned in 58 years of scale modeling

Like many of you, I started modeling as a little kit. My family didn’t have money to spend on luxuries, still, maybe twice a year, birthday or xmas, I would get an Airfix of Matchbox kit (no money for paints or tools, though, just cement. I would use my granny’s scissors and nail sanding sticks and my granddad's razor blades, to their dismay). After the usual hiatus -early youth and then growing a family- I got back on track as an adult.

So, what did I learn in all these years of stubbornly making scale models?

First and foremost, humility. Facing my own limitations with every single build, and seeing the wonderful work of so many exquisitely talented modelers.

I also learned about friendship across geographies and demographics. The generosity, camaraderie, witty humor, and vast knowledge of my fellow model builders.

I learned a lot about aviation history and about many airplane types, besides a bit about the hobby industry and its manufacturers, the different media available and how you really have to check your references before trusting the accuracy of your kit to most kit manufacturers.

I learned about tools and materials and how to dig something interesting from the Net.

I learned that in spite of trying to avoid politics, sometimes you have to speak up from whatever platform you may have, when a corrupt, inept, lying, cruel government and its corporate cronies try to trample on our rights and steal from us.

The one particular field I still have quite a lot to learn about is... building scale models 😉

These images are from many years ago. The collection has reached now 500+ models, about 20% of them in other hangars all over the world.

You may play now "NAME THAT PLANE!" 

A modeling medium I love perhaps the most is vacuum-formed kits. I have build dozens of them. And lately I was fortunate enough to acquire these two. I think a bit of nostalgia is involved in this taste. They also taught me a lot:

It will of course be built as a civil plane, maybe Catalina Airways or Fish and Wildlife Service.

Cessna T-50 - Pavla 1/72nd scale kit

 

Modelers know that dated kits may be turned into fair representations of the plane with some effort, patience and additions. In this case we have a typical early “short-run” kit with all the somewhat nagging issues that come with them: lack of locating devices, indifferent molding, thick edges, thick walls, poor engineering, lack of fine detail, vague instructions, flimsy vac transparencies and so on and so forth. Looking at these kits there is also the ever-lingering question: “-Why did they do part X in resin/P.E. and not part Y, which needed it more”. Still: you will finally be able to build the subject you love, which was neglected by the big names in the industry. I have built dozens of these poor cousins of the industry, many of them to great satisfaction. In this case, besides a few improvements, I decided to keep things relatively simple, and against my building instincts opted for not opening anything, and just try to render a credible replica. I adapted the kit to represent a specific plane that differed in some regards from the version in the box. For that I worked a bit on the interior, added some exterior details, and refined the parts to attenuate the overall sense of thickness. 

Props were replaced; nav lights, wing landing lights and LE light added; dorsal beacon and belly antennas added, engine baffles added, exhausts replaced, landing gear and interior further detailed. 

The step-by-step building article shows some of the kit hiccups and a couple of needed corrections:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2026/04/cessna-t-50-pavla-multimedia-172nd-kit.html

My intention was at the beginning to use an Arctic Decals set (Wisconsin Central Airlines) but midway I realized that this Pavla rendition was different enough from the KP one that the masks and decals would have trouble adapting to some of the discrepancies. Thus, I looked around for civil alternates and found this scheme which I liked, plus it needed a bare minimum of decals.

As I was finishing it, I used a brand new tinlet of Humbrol yellow enamel, that took more than a week to dry enough to apply the decals and be able to add the final bits. In the -paraphrased- words of Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump: “Humbrol enamels are like a box of chocolates…you never know what you are gonna get”. And is as such that you get some that have the consistency of thick milk caramel, some are thin as water, the same color from another tin will be different enough from the first to be easily noticed, some won’t dry in a month, and so on and so forth. The formula seems to have changed so often that from one year to the next your usual thinner won’t work well, their thinner won’t really work, the opacity of some colors will be a joke… et cetera. When they work, they are great…when and if they work. “Virtually unreliable” would be an understatement. Way to ruin a traditional brand, guys. By the way, and just in case some “advice” wants to come my way: I have used them for decades, and on hundreds of models.

But back to the kit…, if you have one of these oldish short-run boxes, you may give them a chance. If you don’t have them, you may buy them in the second-hand market -if the price is right. Or just buy the newer kit of that plane if it does exist (in this case the KP kit), which will give you a much smoother ride. 

Here is the Arctic Decals set I planned to use, but, as explained, given the Pavla kit idiosyncrasies, could not be used. Fortunately I also have the KP kit to bestow them upon:

But if you are looking for some modeling exercise to work out the rust off those fingers (and vastly extend your expletives’ vocabulary) look for these oldies, they won’t disappoint... but have the aspirin bottle at hand.

From the Net:

" Under current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules (14 CFR Part 45) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines, fixed-wing aircraft only need to display registration marks on either the vertical tail surfaces or the sides of the rear fuselage. Wing markings are no longer mandatory in many regions, including the U.S. (they were phased out in 1960)"

The original plane, as stated in the construction post, only had tiny regs on the aft fuselage under the stab.