A history of Airfix HO/OO AFV kits - part 17 - 1977

1977 saw only a single new kit - but what a useful one!  I still think of this as a fairly new kit.  A rather more involved build than most Airfix kits, the Bofors - and more particularly the Morris tractor - rewards a degree of care and patience.

This pair serve as the LAA Regiment of 5 Indian Division.

A history of Airfix HO/OO AFV kits - part 16 - 1974

This was another epic year for new kits with three releases. I present them here in ascending order of usefulness.  But that's just my opinion!
Scorpion.  Not strictly a tank but (at least in British service) a Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked).  I did build one of these several decades ago but don't have one to hand at the present time, so I am indebted to Paul at Plastic Warriors and Richard at Wargames & Walking for the photos.  A neat if rather fiddly kit builds as either a Scorpion (76mm gun) or Scimitar (30mm cannon) and if your skill stretches far enough can serve as the basis of other CVR(T) variants..

Photo by Paul Foster

Photo by Richard Holden

Photo by Richard Holden

Photo by Richard Holden

Chi-Ha tank. More accurately the Type 97 Medium Tank.  Japanese vehicles in this scale are still rather scarce so back in the day this was something of a bolt from the blue!  I recently built a couple of these which featured in earlier blog posts.  It's a nice kit and well worth looking out for.

German Reconnaissance Set

What a gem this set is!  Both the Kubelwagen and the Sdkfz 222 are extremely useful for our wargame armies.  The '222 is an easy conversion into the MG-armed '221 and other such variants.

 A pair of standard models, these serve with my incarnation of 7 Panzer Division.

Sticking with the Rommel theme, this equally standard '222 is part of 21PD.

A history of Airfix HO/OO AFV kits - part 15 - 1973

Another three-kit year!  And what a trio.  First up is the RAF Recovery Set.  This contains two vehicles - a lengthy 'Queen Mary' trailer hauled by a (rather underscale) Bedford tractor....

...and a Coles crane mounted on a Thornycroft chassis.  Both are candidates for many conversions and bodges.

Speaking of bodges, here are some Soviet Komintern artillery tractors.  These use the Thornycroft cab (except the one on the left which is from a Roco Faun lorry) and Roco Panzer IV running gear

It may not be 100% accurate but these comrades seem happy enough!

Next - the Matilda infantry tank.  Really rather a nice kit - though the (largely unseen) wheels are a bit fiddly.

This pair were completed a couple of years ago.  Bendy gun barrels aside they are very solid little models.

And finally - the SA-2 'Guideline' missile kit.  One of many kits I made a real mess of back when it was (as the box claims) 'new' (well around 1978...).  The kit contained a ZIL tractor unit the missile and a semi trailer for the latter, as well as a launcher unit.

I don't have this kit built as god and Airfix intended, but a pair of modified ZILs lurk in my boxfiles.

This one has been adapted to mount the Katyusha rails from another (truly horrid) kit.  Behind can just be glimpsed it's ammo-carrying comrade.  And yes, I know the ZIL is a postwar vehicle but it was based on and bears a striking resemblance to the lend-lease Studebaker.  And that's good enough for me.

A history of Airfix HO/OO AFV kits - part 14 - 1972

1972 saw only one new release.  While an unusual subject it was at the time rather topical, as the M-551 Sheridan had been deployed to Vietnam.  

I am sorry to say that I have never built this kit and so I am once again indebted to Paul at Plastic Warriors for photos of his (lightly modified) models.

I did once own a pair of Airfix Sheridans which came into my possession resplendent in gloss black paint!  At the time the centrepiece of our wargames was a wide river, so amphibious AFVs were highly sought after.  I do remember toning down the black with other colours but the fate of these models is - as with so many others - lost in the mists of time.

A history of Airfix HO/OO AFV kits - part 13 - 1971

This year saw three new kits - all of them tanks.
The Chieftain was at the time entering service with the British Army, and the kit captures the mighty beast rather well.

A very nice Chieftain built by Erhntly - photo stolen from his excellent blog.

The Crusader has long been one of my personal favourites.  It looks very racy and elegant - even if we all know it was a far from perfect tank in service!  The kit makes up as either a MkII (with 2pdr gun and additional MG turret) or a MkIII with (6pdr gun).

My MkIIIs are all the Hasegawa kits, so here are a couple of my MkIIs.  The Airfix hull is slightly too long but it's nothing I lose any sleep over.

The Panzer IV tank was another wonderfully useful release.  It took me a while to get round to owning one as being a Series 2 kit it always seemed rather expensive!  Eventually though, I stumped up the required £0.46 and built it as an F-2 with the long barrelled 75mm gun.  An additional barrel was included to enable less power crazed modellers to built the short 75-armed F-1 version.

This Pz IV serving with 20 Panzer Grenadier Division benefits from added turret armour.

A very standard F-2 - a veteran of many campaigns this is on the strength of 10 PD.

A history of Airfix HO/OO AFV kits - part 12 - 1970

Two kits were released this year.  The RAF Refuelling Set contained a two fuel tankers - a Bedford QL and an AEC Matador 6x6.  Both useful in their intended forms, these again offered excellent conversion possibilities.

A standard Bedford QL tanker.

An equally standard Matador tanker.

A generic lorry based on the 6x6 Matador - less an axle!

The second release in this year was a very 'modern' subject - the Leopard tank.  This has the dubious distinction of being one of the few Airfix AFV kits I have never actually built.  That said, from what I've seen it seems a good representation of the real deal.

Once again I don't have one to hand (though there is an unbuilt kit lurking in a box somewhere and another in need of much TLC), so I am grateful to Paul at Plastic Warriors for the photo of the box, and Ion at Archduke Piccolo for the pic of his splendidly battle-weary looking Leo.

A history of Airfix HO/OO AFV kits - part 11 - 1969

It's that time of year again, and so back to the next year of Airfix releases.  For those of you who've not seen the earlier posts in this series, scroll down to the label list on the right and click 'History of Airfix'.
Anyway, back to 1969 and the year's two new releases.
First up was the M3 Lee/Grant tank.  I remember building one of these at an early (too early really) age with fairly dismal results.  With a bit more experience and care it can be mad in to a decent enough representation of the Lee, but the Grant turret is a bit of a stinker.  I have several of these models - three Grants for North African service, at least three US Lees and another pair in Soviet markings.  The 'grave for seven comrades' as the Sovs called it, which seems to imply less than total confidence.

 Grant and Lee.  

The Grant has had it's original turret replaced with a rather nicer resin version.

The RAF Emergency Set contained two kits - the Austin K-2 ambulance and the Austin K-6 fire tender. For many years the RAF sets were the only source of lorries in this scale, and as a result these kits infest the wargames tables of the world in vast quantities, not least because of their conversion possibilities.  I have built many versions of this kit but I do not own a K-6 tender built as Airfix intended!

Thanks to Paul at Plastic Warriors for this photo.

The pair of K-2 I completed earlier this year.

A rather higher mileage K-2

A typical conversion of the K-6

A history of Airfix HO/OO AFV kits - part 10 - 1968

Only a single new release this year - but arguably two tanks in one!  As (surely!) everyone must know the T-34 kit included turrets for /76 and /85 versions.  This was another kit I came to after having built the (rather newer) Matchbox version and so I found it something of a disappointment.  That was back in 1978 when I thought such things mattered and I have long since managed to forgive the Airfix T-34 it's faults. 
Above and below: a pair of pretty bog standard T-34/85s.  In my humble opinion this kit is at it's best as an /85 as it looks 'right' and the running gear and fenders look to be from a late (or post) war tank.

The weak point of the earlier turret is the rather spindly gun barrel - it looks more 20mm than 76mm!  This however is easily replaced.  The model in the photos was built from spares box leftovers and uses the tracks from an Airfix Mk.1 WW1 tank.  A desperate measure perhaps but as I'm sure Zhukov was fond of saying "you can never have too many T-34s..."