Zorro

Published: August 2, 2011
Company: Atlantis Model Company

Swish, swish, SWISH! The mark of Zorro! Fear naught, freedom-loving peasants, the masked swordsman is here to protect you from injustice and tyranny! Well, in 1/12 scale anyway….

The character of Zorro dates back to a novel written in 1919; films and radio programs followed, but it was in 1957 that Zorro really entered American popular culture with the premiere of Disney’s TV series… more

Wings of the Weird and Wonderful

Published: February 26, 2011
Book Author(s): Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown, RN
Company: Hikoki Publications

Captain Eric Brown is the doyen of test pilots; a former Chief Naval Test Pilot and Commanding officer of the Aerodynamics Flight of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, Brown is in the Guinness Book of Records as the pilot-in-command who has flown the most types of aircraft – over 490 and they are all listed in the front of this book. His career in test piloting started back in 1942… more

The Cinderella Service: RAF Coastal Command 1939 - 1945

Published: February 26, 2011
Book Author(s): Andrew Hendrie
Company: Pen and Sword Books Ltd

In 1936, the Royal Air Force reorganized into a series of task-specific commands; the most famous were Fighter Command and Bomber Command, which played very public roles in the defeat of Nazi Germany. However, another, perhaps more vital battle was being fought by an unsung command over the frigid waters of the North Sea and North Atlantic – Coastal Command. Its role in defeating the U-boat… more

Panavia Tornado Exhausts

Published: December 6, 2010
Company: Aires Hobby Models

The Revell 1/32 Panavia Tornado is a nice kit, but now approaching 20 years old, it is somewhat lacking in detail. Various resin and PE detail sets have been created for it, but until now, no-one has tackled the complex exhaust area – Aires have come to the rescue with this new set.

The exhaust detail in the kit is not bad, but the jet pipes are a bit short and the detail overall is a… more

Home is the Halifax

Published: December 6, 2010
Book Author(s): Ian Robinson, MBE
Company: Grub Street

The Handley-Page Halifax was one of Britain’s best 4-engined bombers but, like the Hurricane to the Spitfire, was overshadowed by the Avro Lancaster as a media darling. It didn’t help that no original Halifax airframes existed in the world, outside of a sorry example pulled from a Norwegian fjord in the early 70’s and displayed in an un-restored state at the RAF Museum in London – a pitiful… more

British Browning Mk.2 .303 Calibre Machine Gun Barrels

Published: November 4, 2010
Company: Master Model

Airfix’s 1/24 Mosquito is a large model, but is a little lacking in detail in places. One of these is the rather Spartan 0.303-inch Browning machine gun installation in the nose. Master Models has released a fine set of replacement parts for this area.

Each gun barrel is represented by 5 pre-formed brass pieces; the parts simply slot together and are secured with spots of superglue.… more

De Havilland Mosquito NFII/FBVI Part 3

Published: November 3, 2010
Company: Airfix

My apologies to Airfix for this kit having to take a back seat to life for a little while, but I am in the home stretch now.

With the basic airframe completed, it is now time to start adding some of the minor sub-assemblies. Up front, the machine gun bay was added. The detail in here is fair – like the engine bays, a lot more pipework and wiring would need to be added to be thoroughly… more

De Havilland Mosquito NF.II/FB.VI - Part 1

Published: November 2, 2009
Company: Airfix

The de Havilland Mosquito really needs no introduction, beyond the fact that it was one of the most versatile aeroplanes ever built, fulfilling an amazing variety of roles with air forces and civilian organizations across the globe from 1941 until the mid-sixties.

This new kit from Airfix continues a tradition dating back to the early 1970's for large-scale kits, starting with their… more

De Havilland Mosquito NF.II/FB.VI - Part 2

Published: November 2, 2009
Company: Airfix

Despite there being over 600 parts and 52 stages in the instruction manual, this doesn't seem to be an overly complicated kit; however, there are places where care with assembly will be needed to ensure that there are no fit issues later on - I'm thinking particularly of the undercarriage, which will probably be the most fiddly part of the build. The amount of detail seems reasonable for the… more