Richard M

The original Airfix Sea King is one of their best seller kits and has been boxed in a multitude of gift sets, starter sets and double boxing (e.g with the Lifeboat). It was acknowledged over 5 years ago that it was long overdue for replacement. I can see it being around in a variety of guises for many years to come. Airfix will likely have a number of variants planned for this kit, but as per some of the other releases (Lancaster) they will start with the more unusual or limited subject first.

I didn't say it wasn't a rebox of the Airfix/Heller kit, just that the current deal to supply the kits to be re-boxed by Revell is a Heller arrangement, (who currently have the Jaguar in their catalogue). Hornby/Airfix have no involvement, financial or otherwise and the tool hasn't been sold, so therefore nothing should be read into the financial status of Hornby as a result. Just trying to clear that up ;).

Had it confirmed direct by Airfix that this is a Heller/Revell deal, Hornby/Airfix have no involvement, and the actual tooling has not been sold to Revell.

Within walking distance of the Louvre is EOL, which has a good range of models and accessories downstairs when I was there but I found it pricey. EOL MODELISME 3 Rue du Louvre 75001 Paris France The Musée de l'air et de l'espace at Le Bourget is well worth a visit and the shop there had a good range of mainstream kits and paints, although again at RRP. Others have mentioned EURO-MAQUETTE but I've no experience of that personally. EURO-MAQUETTE Galerie Marchande Gamma 193, rue de Bercy 75012 Paris, France http://www.euro-maquette.eu/le-magasin HTH

Der Führer is Führerous about the new 1/46 Eduard Bf.109G http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jfGm9loEqTw

They do need to be mixed very thoroughly, the matt has a tendency to drop out of suspension. I find placing on a radiator to warm them up helps. I think even if brushing thinning helps with the drying times (for the gloss in particular), for airbrushing I use several 50/50 thinner/cote layers.

The Airfix Tribute Forum has a kit index which is kept up to date with information on all the kits; new tool, re-issues etc; http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/viewforum.php?f=71

Airfix 2013 Advent Calendar Competition now live! http://www.airfix.com/advent-calendar/ Todays sneak peak of the 2014 catalogue looks to be the 1/600 RMS Queen Elizabeth. http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=398

100% yes! Even more so as this year is the 50th Anniversary. Just make sure you allow for some spending money.

Airfix made money for Hornby last year and Humbrol increased sales by 20%, it's the other ranges which made losses and there was a large write off due to relaunching the Italian brand Pocher.

These images are labelled as HAS from RAF Laarbruch, Germany, and look pretty close to the Amera item; http://www.panoramio.com/photo_explorer#view=photo&position=169&with_photo_id=20585727&order=date_desc&user=2532938 http://www.panoramio.com/photo_explorer#view=photo&position=172&with_photo_id=20574253&order=date_desc&user=2532938

Pity they didn't use the correct squadron code "RN" if they are serious about tipping their hat to the history of 72 Squadron!

The only known issue I am aware of is the instrument panel tolerance is a bit tight and can need a bit of sanding down to get the two fuselage halves completely flush, something which should be obvious when dry fitting the parts (also present on the recent Airfix 1/72 Mk.I spitfire kit). Other than that all the builds I've seen haven't had any other fit or assembly problems. e.g. http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=409&t=33937

Apparently the "easiest" method to build it is to assemble each fuselage side separately on a flat surface, then join the two sides in a conventional manner. Still a lot of work needed to get it looking reasonable even without worrying about correcting some of the errors. As has been said, this is what you get when Heller farms out the work to several different companies, seemingly without telling any of them what the part they were working on was actually for....

Is this Humbrol acrylic or enamel?

Hopefully later this month :) .

Really? Built the Airfix 1/48 Sea Vixen? The 1/48 Javelin is going to be better than that. Airfix are on a roll at the moment, the R&D and design team have gained a lot of experience over the last couple of years and are now at the top of their game. The new kits bear no resemblance to those first released after the Hornby takeover.

This kit was actually first announced in 2011! Better late than never, it should be available in 2013.

The 1000 kit issue of the Tucano was a Limited Edition just for members of the Airfix Club, which was released in 2012 and sold out. There was a general release of the Tucano kit planned for 2012 which didn't make it in time.

No, the -29 and Tucano didn't make it out for 2012, should be out in 2013 - hopefully around the end of March.

In my experience, Vallejo primers will sand and feather nicely once they are fully and completely dried and cured - which can take several days at least. OK if you are prepared to wait, not so good if you want to proceed quickly...

I've only seen black and white shots of that subject, is the paint scheme likely to be gloss red as on drones?

Both sets are up here on the Airfix Tribute Forum Instruction resource; http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/about22510.html

All new tool designs are by CAD, so they take new measurements based on the points they need for the programs. The 1/48 Lightnings were done by Philipe Goulard back in the late 90's. Airfix is a completely different company, under new ownership and in a new location. Some things made it through the transition, a lot of things didn't....

You can try mixing some baby powder into the cyano, prevents it getting too hard to sand. Using cyano avoids the shrinkage problems as it does not melt or soften the plastic. http://s3.zetaboards.com/locate_and_cement/topic/744332/1/#new