Hornby Visitor Centre 'Wonder Works' Airfix Model Show, 18 January 2025

 

Well the Bolton IPMS show is usually the first show of the year. In 2025 it wasn't. On Saturday we drove the 25 or so miles up to Hornby HQ and the 'Airfix' Visitor Centre (now 'rebranded' 'The Wonder Works') for their first ever model show and the first show of 2025. There were five or six clubs in attendance, including East Kent, Faversham, Medway, Gravesham and Medway Veterans,with free tea and coffee for those displaying their models and food at 50% discount! The place was packed. In fact space was at a premium with only a couple of tables allocated to each club which made for a rather cluttered display - there were ten members of our club vying for room alone! At one point every table in the Hornby cafe was occupied. Perhaps not surprisingly there were a few nice Airfix builds on show, including the 48th scale  Buccaneer, Gannet, Bulldog and Blenheim and their large 72nd scale Vulcan. We learnt too incidentally that the new-tool Lysander had just arrived in the warehouse next door - but noted that it was not yet in the shop - pre-orders and sales outlets first apparently. Here's a few of the tables/models that caught my eye..

a wide view of our two tables  - Simon's USS Texas yet to make an appearance, although his big Vulcan is there at the far end. A better view of that down below...(stay tuned for more pics to be added..)

below, a general view of Medway's tables with Martin's builds closest to the camera and Bill's Airfix post-war RAF builds including Harriers, Buccaneers, the Meteor and Hunter. Jonty's 72nd Airfix Spitfires in front.

Andy's Airfix Bulldog looking incredibly neat...

Impressively displayed Airfix 72nd Vulcan on the Gravesham club table. One way of showing off the huge missile recessed in the bomb bay..

A close-up of Bill's 72nd Harriers

Martin's 'Star Wars' fighter thingy in Luftwaffe colours caught the eye...

This Fa 223 Drache was neatly done -not sure of the kit, probably Special Hobby. Props attached with mini-magnets. Model secured to the base with mini-magnets. Ingenious!

David from Gravesham models WWI . Not a single triplane on display this time though. See Welling show report 2023 elsewhere here.

Mac's Italeri 1:9th scale Harley OOB. 

A view of one wall of the Airfix/Hornby shop at their Visitor Centre in Margate, Kent!

Simon's 72nd Airfix Vulcan (old tool) and his USS Texas left. Dale and David's Dominie 'before and after' as seen on the Manston fire dump from the Airfix Vintage Classic range..

East Kent Scale Modellers - first club night of 2025

 

..first meet of the year coincides with the date of the Airfix 2025 range launch. Of course, as Luke has gone to Revell - and still no sign at our meets of his replacement - he was not present to give us our usual Airfix' briefing' but generally people were pretty happy with what was announced - obviously the Jaguar was an 'open' secret but the Stalwart was a surprise, but most seem to have already got a Spitfire twin-seater in their collections courtesy of Brigade Models. As usual there were some great models on the table for tonight's meet...

Rod's Airfix Javelin and Will's 32nd Hasegawa 79th FG P-47

Andy's 72nd Sword F.1

Ben's 24 scale Trumpeter Hurricane. Purchased at Telford. Airbrushed freehand, markings painted with masks.

Bob's Trumpeter Fulmar in 48th 

Ben's Airfix Buccaneer in 48th 

David's Academy F-4

Stu's Academy Thunderjet in 72nd and Dick's Kinetic Harrier..

Henry's Airfix 48th Anson

'Syrian Veterans'- Paulus Victor decals. Syrian Arab Air Force MiG 21bis (1)

 

With the fall of the Assad regime the Syrian Arab Air Force is on the verge of extinction. My interest in SyAAF MiGs was piqued back in 2017 when the 'Russia Today' news channel filed a report from Hama air base. Now that interest has resulted in my tracking down a copy of the first 'Paulus Victor' decal sheet in 1:72nd, issued  back in 2017 as it happens, and now largely sold out.  Time to dig out the Zvezda MiG 21bis kit for my first project of 2025.

The Syrian civil war seemed to have virtually ended between then and late November 2024, but outside of the large towns there were always areas of the country held by 'rebels' and effectively outside of Assad's control. But now, no doubt taking advantage of Russia's weakness and events elsewhere, Islamist insurgents - what the Russians used to refer to as 'terrorists' and now call the 'armed opposition' - advanced on Homs taking Hama air base to threaten Damascus in a rapid two-week offensive. Assad was forced to flee the country and claim asylum in Moscow. Russian influence in the region has suffered a huge setback - having invested huge resources in building up bases, especially the air force base at Latakia. Some recent photos of Hama air base have appeared on various on-line news feeds - along with several pictures of bombed-up MiG 21s that look like they may have been taken back in 2015-2017. Most of the wrecked MiGs that feature in recent pictures look very much as though they were 'hangar 'queens' - sometimes propped up on piles of old tyres and missing key parts. The MiGs were delivered to Syria during the early 1980s - their airframes well past their useful lives were refurbished locally. This decal sheet is actually sold out and OOP in 1:72nd scale although the 48th scale sheet is still available. I managed to source a sheet from PV's preferred seller in Kiev, Ukraine and it arrived today, Christmas Eve. 

The Paulus Victor decal package is superb with fold-out artworks and reference photos enclosed in a nicely printed heavy-card folder. There is a detailed painting guide for each of the featured aircraft and a page describing how to construct an authentic-looking Syrian airfield base. 

How to use Ammo rigging

 

A week at the ECPA-D in Paris

 

I have another good reason for not attending Telford (again) or completing a model this month (again) - I'm just back from a week at one of the world's great photographic archives - the ECPA-D in the southern Paris suburb of Ivry. This is the second time I've been to the French Defence archive. The ECPA-D houses a superb collection of albums - many digitised - including the 'Fonds Allemand' or 'German collection'. The 'Fonds Allemand' is an archive of over 400,000 photos, films and sound recordings taken by German wartime PK 'Bildberichter' or photo reporters. You are free to consult the collection and make low-res copies for personal use. Unfortunately the archive have now closed their photo-lab where you used to be able to order hard copies for 2 euros each. Digital copies can be ordered but the prices have increased. So if you want new photos or inspiration, whether you're a modeller or a 'researcher', you'll get a great welcome from the very helpful staff only too ready to help you explore their amazing collection of photo albums, both the physical and digital. You need to book a 'research' slot via the ECPA-D web site and hand over your passport as you go in as this is a department of the French military housed in the old Fort d'Ivry - built between 1841-45 - and part of the southern defensive belt of the city of Paris. 

Below; a partial view of the photo albums that comprise the 'German collection', followed by a 'mosaic' view on the screen of each 'reportage'. Each individual image can be enlarged to full screen size! These photos were all taken by professional photographers. Curator Nicolas Férard has written a very nice book entitled "Propaganda Kompanien" about the work of the PK 'Bildberichter' photo reporters that appeared (in English) through publisher 'Histoire & Collections'. One tip from me - the best results can be obtained by taking photos of the photos!

I popped into Hannants in Colindale, north London

 

I've posted about the 'best model shop in London' previously - that vote went to Kit Krazy in Bexley Heath. Of course the best model shop in London really has to be Hannants in Colindale. Looking more like a warehouse than a shop, Hannants in London is just down the road from the RAF museum in Hendon. Both places are a 'must-visit' if in London. From central London take the Thames Link service from St. Pancras or Farringdon to Mill Hill Broadway and from there the bus runs past the musuem and the shop. Not only does the shop feature the biggest selection of kits anywhere outside of the main Hannants in Lowestoft, there are display cases full of superbly built models, many by Luke of YouTube Channel 'Mach Models'. Also open on Sundays, one of the shop's busiest days of the week apparently. A few pics....

Airfix Henschel Hs 123 'vintage classic' 72nd scale

My first completed build of 2024 - in mid-August! Airfix 72nd Hs 123, nowadays a 'vintage classic'. That means 'not very good' and/or 'lacking in detail'.  Quite a few builds of this kit can be found on youtube, but all of them are pretty poor! None of the modellers attempt to add some extra detail, which given the 'age' of the model, it desperately needs.

A few easy 'adds' including cutting out and posing the tail surfaces, sanding away all the horrible raised detail, adding a 'cockpit' (reshaping the seat, adding belts, a 'stick' and the characteristic 'double' instrument panel) along with the usual wine bottle foil seat belts. Rather like the Gladiator there was no cockpit floor as such. Cut away the pilot's entry doors and replace with plastic card - on the model the coaming is about a scale foot thick! As is the appallingly thick windscreen which is easily replaced with a cut-out from clear plastic - I used an empty water bottle.

 I had a number of disasters during construction, including snapping off a cabane strut and losing one of the footsteps - a replacement was made from wire. 

I've dug out some replacement decals - for some reason the 'Schlacht' triangle is presented in 'red' on the kit decal sheet - and I've chosen an overall green 71 scheme from the MMP booklet on the HS 123. There is some debate on the colour scheme found on these machines - some suggest that they would have been finished in the 'classic' 70/71 splinter scheme, others argue that the type was too early for this.

More pics and some 'reference' material on my Luftwaffe blog.