Help for Heroes and...., ahem,.. Airfix

[Roland Pulfrew]

Calling all (and if this isn't too sexist) Dads.

Have a look at this (http://www.airfix.co.uk/latest-news/archive/2009/10/13/help-for-heroes-and-airfix/). Go on, you know you want to and you can help H4H at the same time!!:ok: Time to wean the kids off computer games?!?!

October 2009 – Airfix, the UK’s oldest manufacturer of scale plastic model kits, has launched a fundraising initiative to raise money for the Help for Heroes charity.

The charity was launched in September 2007 to provide better facilities for wounded British serviceman and women. As part of the initiative celebrities have been asked to build and paint their own individual Airfix Spitfire model. Upon completion all the models will be auctioned on ebay with all the proceeds donated to the Help for Heroes charity.

Darrell Burge, Marketing Manager, Airfix, comments: “This year Airfix is celebrating its 60th anniversary and we wanted to mark this important landmark with a fundraising initiative. Many have experienced the damage and consequences of war and for this reason we felt very strongly about teaming up with the Help for Heroes charity. We are delighted that so many high profile personalities have agreed to help, for what is a very worthwhile cause”.

Piers Morgan, David Jason, James May, Will Carling, Linford Christie and Frank Lampard are just a few of the top names who have offered to lend their services to the campaign.

[BEagle]

But which Airfix Spitfire?

I had 2 - one was the 2/- (that's 10p to digi-yoof) 1/72nd scale released in around 1955. I think it was a Mk1. It came in a poly bag - complete with the clear rectangular stand of that era. Mine was thrown together with rather more enthusiasm than skill! About 15 years later, I also built one of the 1/24 scale Spitfires Airfix released in around 1970. It was nothing like as much fun though.

Sounds like a great competition; my money is on James May's model!

Presumably these days kids would need safety glasses, work boots and mesh gauntlets and to build their models in a positively ventilated workroom? And any parent permitting a child the use of a Swann-Morton craft knife and/or Humbrol 77 polystyrene cement would probably be up in front of nuLabor's state nannies for exposing their progeny to avoidable safety hazards.....:hmm:

[ArthurR]

Used to make them when I was a kid, and looking at the celeb's named, well I'll go with them, they to me are celeb's, Is david Jason doing a 3 wheeler...

[Rigga]

Beags - As if you have pulled the spotter from my inner soul - the Spit Mk 1 wasnt made by Airfix (dont ask me how I know that after all this time) But I seem to remember that Airfix they only made Spits with three Prop blades - the Mk 1 had only two.


....Out from the closet at last!

[Strobin Purple]

Need to go the whole hog:

Build an early 70s Airfix 1/72 Lanc (Q for Queenie, IIRC), an ME 109E and a FW109, all painted in the style of a 9 yr old (badly) and generate your own Battle of the Ruhr (artistic licence as this 9 yr old was unaware that the day fighters didn't get involved). String them all up from your bedroom ceiling in some form of circling visual fight and set fire to the German fighters with a bunch of Swan Vestas. The liberally applied glue goes v quickly, the Nazi fighters become engulfed, burn thru' the cotton holding them up, fall on the bedroom floor (no carpets in those days, we 'ad it tough) and nearly burn your family's house down. Get a thrashing from your Dad for being an arsonist and unable to explain that you were only trying recreate history, but proudly afterwards lie in bed, watching a gently swaying (draughty windows - like I said we 'ad it tough) soot-blackened Q for Queenie safely head home to Blighty, her brave Air Gunners with another 2 claims.

Airfix Spitfires - they're for girls and little fingers. Unless you've built an Airfix Lanc (or B-17, B24, Halifax, Stirling, Wellington) you'll always be a little suspect and probably a 5th columnist.

SP

[TheWizard]

Nice work there SP.
However, my attempt at disrupting the industrial heartland from the attic window failed ,especially when the engines were stuffed with tissue paper and soaked in lighter fluid. The sight of 'S for Sugar' diving into the garden pond as she belched black smoke was unforgettable!!
Made from an impressive first foray into video film using the old mans behemoth of a camera (late 70s!).
Unfortunately, neither activity was given authorisation from Home Command and a subsequent interview with the Staish resulted in some Cpl Punishment!!:\

[Strictly Jungly]

Ah Yes.................whilst I always looked on in awe at the 1/24 Scale model of the Spit (Well beyond my financial capabilities at the time!) I had to make do with the rather splendid "Dog-Fight Doubles" series...............The best was the ME110 and Spitfire, which came along with the black "A" Frame stand and enabled you to recreate the perfect attack profile. Its hard to believe that such simplicity would entertain us!

I think my first ever attempt was the Stuka, which after several paint jobs (Desert, Temperate and Arctic schemes), perished in a mid air collision.

To this day I still smile when I think of the small airfix tins of paint and the familiar "Duck Egg Blue" .................... Happy Days. I do hope it proves to be a successful venture.
SJ

[BEagle]

In fact the exact mark of Spitfire represented by Airfix's BT-K has been the subject of anorak debate for over 50 years:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a341/nw969/AirfixSpitfire.jpg

Airfix never included a mark number in the original 1950s kit, it seems, although the later 1/72 scale model was a Mk IX coded JE-J.

If anyone has an original 1955 kit, they're now worth hundreds of pounds to collectors.

[barnstormer1968]

I built the 1/24 Spitfire at around the age of eight, and sadly rushed it, resulting in
a streaky finish on the cammo, not to mention paint all over my hands (I could
wait until a part was dry, before assembling it).

On a similar vein, I also tried to build the cross channel hovercraft at about this
time, ruining this model too by trying to speed up paint drying times with a hair
dryer. About six years ago, I saw this same model in a model shop and had to
buy it (wanting to re live the childhood aim to build it). It is still in it's box, about
ninety percent completed. I must get round to finishing it one day.

*anorak mode on*
I must confess to still building models (from the box and scratch built), mostly in
1/72 and 1/32.

At least the H4H entrants won't have to attempt full DPM uniforms!

*anorak mode off* THE GUILTY SECRET IS OUT!!

[BEagle]

Wasn't James May's programme on BBC2 good tonight!

A 1/1 scale Airfix-style Spitfire built by 13 year old children - who actually seemed to enjoy the experience!

[Rigga]

...brought back memories of a teenager...

[aluminium persuader]

Fantastic, and equally fantastic that it will be displayed at Cosford! Top marks to all.

ap:ok:

[stiknruda]

James and I are of an age, enjoyed the prog. Spam fritters, I thought I'd erased those from my memory!

Stik

[kevmusic]

I could never work out why 1/72 models couldn't fly!!! :ugh:.....although they did seem to do it pretty well underwater (i.e. the bath - yes, I know, we all did rather suspect things in bath water :p)

[reallydeskbound]

Any reason why the time of posts in this (maybe other) threads is still on Zulu + 1? or am I just being thick? :confused:

[GeeRam]

Beags - As if you have pulled the spotter from my inner soul - the Spit Mk 1 wasnt made by Airfix (dont ask me how I know that after all this time) But I seem to remember that Airfix they only made Spits with three Prop blades - the Mk 1 had only two.


....Out from the closet at last!

If we're going to get all anorakish.......actually only the first 75 or so production MkI Spitfire's were equipped with the Watts two blade prop, thereafter, MkI's had the 3 blade units.

[Hipper]

String them all up from your bedroom ceiling in some form of circling visual fight and set fire to the German fighters with a bunch of Swan Vestas.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one that did this sort of thing. The best one I did was the burning of the Bismarck in the bath. The problem was it took ages to clear up the mess afterwards and I can't believe, looking back, that my mother didn't notice.

[chevvron]

This company is organising a footy match at the Madejski Stadium, Reading on thu 12 Nov; England v Rest of the World. Tickets avaialble via the Reading FC website (I can give you a phone number if you want). Plenty of seats available (in fact too many so please support this cause even if you don't like footy)

[Roland Pulfrew]

I have to admit that in my long distant youth I used to run a bit of fishing line from my bedroom window to the bottom of our garden. Then with a bit of bent paperclip to hold aircraft models that had fallen out of favour onto the fishing line, models would be launched down the fishing line....................


with one of those small bangers that used to be so popular (God knows how much gunpowder they contained in those days) stuffed inside. Then we watched in anticipation to see how far down the line they would get before exploding and showering the garden with wings, bits of fuselage and shattered canopy.

However if you want a bit more of a challenge then there is the new Airfix Mosquito, over 600 parts :eek:. Somewhat outside the average "pocket money range" even for today's "yoof" I suspect.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1312/4776356/16311893/373754073.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1312/4776356/16311893/373754074.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1312/4776356/16311893/373754084.jpg

[Vage Rot]

Nice work there SP.
However, my attempt at disrupting the industrial heartland from the attic window failed ,especially when the engines were stuffed with tissue paper and soaked in lighter fluid. The sight of 'S for Sugar' diving into the garden pond as she belched black smoke was unforgettable!!
Made from an impressive first foray into video film using the old mans behemoth of a camera (late 70s!).
Unfortunately, neither activity was given authorisation from Home Command and a subsequent interview with the Staish resulted in some Cpl Punishment!!



Bu99er, I thought it was only me that got busted for that!! Fishing line from the top floor window into the garden and a hook cemented into said Airfix aircraft full of tissue and meths!

Funnily enough, that was one thing I never managed to blame on my sister!!:rolleyes:

[Chielman]

My brush with parental wrath involved a bright idea to mass-paint three boxes of Airfix 1/72 Russian WW2 infantry. I poured earth-brown enamel into a basin and plonked the soldiers into it. My gameplan was to fish them out, allow them to dry and then paint in faces and equipment detail later. Sadly, it was my mother's washing-up basin. She took an instant sense of humour failure and emptied basin, paint and soldiers into the dustbin. My military procurement budget was then stopped - 2/6 a week pocket money - until I'd paid for a new basin.

[Brewers Droop]

My father had a beautiful collection of 1/600 airfix warships on the top of the cupboard protected with various 1/72 and 1/48 aircraft maintaining a maritime exclusion zone over my brothers bed. The Battle of Jutland started quietly with division of forces with Prinz Eugan 1/600 leading out the Boche (which included HMS Ark Royal to make numbers up). HMS Belfast 1/600 bravely being lined up on the other side of the patio. Gaps in capability were quickly plugged by an extremely efficient procurement process using lego. The battle opened with the usual trading of fire (stones) before a morning full of lego building was destroyed. By the time the first ship was doused in some meths type spirit from the camping stove in the garage an impressive array of forces were lined up fighting each other with ships, 1/76 Waterloo French Grenadiers and WWII German Infantry all entering the fray. Various Dinkys and similar held a battle reserve - and if that went there was always more lego. The ships and a 1/76 Strikemaster, once on fire, were carefully and unceremoniously dumped into the pond (read mud ditch) by my brother with a pair of fire tongs. My history has never been good but with most ships gone we were quickly into an aerial dogfight between a 1/72 Spitfire (My favourite) and a Sepecat Jaguar (my brother favourite). As my brother was 2 years younger the Jag never had a chance. The spitfire remained for many years as a tribute to the few (models we had left).

It is probably the only time I saw my father cry.

This is a secret that I have kept. The shame I had to hide in front of my colleagues at Coltishall remains. However, the pride of going past the BBMF Hangar most mornings at Coningsby more than placated it.

[Fat Chris]

Brewers Droop

Thanks for your tale........I will stop chuckling soon (the kids are watching crap Factor).

Made my evening.