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In this issue...

T h e O f f i c i a l A i r f i x C l u b M a g a z i n e . . .

JUNIOR COMPETITION TIMECOMPETITION TIME

PLUS...

I s s u e 8 2 0 0 9

1. The winner will be the first selected at random from theall-correct entries received at the Club office by the closingdate of 16th October 2009.

2. The competition is strictly limited to one entry per currentmember of the Airfix Club.

3. Duplicate entries will be disregarded.4. The results of the competition will be announced in Issue

9 of the Airfix magazine and the winner notified by post.5. The competition is not open to employees of Hornby

Hobbies Ltd., their agents or families.

6. No correspondence to be entered into in conjunctionwith the competition.

7. No cash equivalent is available.8. The Airfix Club accepts no responsibility for entries lost

or damaged in the post.9. Entries defaced or altered in any way will be deemed

null and void.10. The judges’ decision is final.

Rules of Entry.1. The winner will be the first selected at random from the

all-correct entries received by the closing date of 16thOctober 2009.

2. The competition is limited to one entry per current juniormember of the Airfix Club aged 14 or under.

3. Duplicate entries will be disregarded.4. The results of the competition will be announced in Issue 9

of the Airfix Club magazine and the winner notified by post.5. The competition is not open to employees of Hornby

Hobbies Ltd., their agents or families.

6. No correspondence to be entered into in conjunctionwith the competition.

7. No cash equivalent is available.8. The Airfix Club accepts no responsibility for entries lost

or damaged in the post.9. Entries defaced or altered in any way will be deemed

null and void.10. The judges’ decision is final.

Rules of Entry.

We have some more fantastic prizes to give away this summer, courtesy of Airfix.Going to one lucky winner in our adult competition are two Canberra model kits,both brand new tooling this year.

They are the A05038 English Electric Canberra B(I)8 night intruder bomber/lowflying missions aircraft; and A05039 English Electric Canberra PR.9 – the photo-reconnaissance version, both in 1:72 scale. To have a chance of winning, we needyou to send us the answer to the following questions, which you will find in thisissue of our Airfix magazine.

1. Please name the person and their title at the time, who officially ‘christened’the Canberra.

2. Who was the Canberra’s Chief Test Pilot during this period?

3. The Canberra was made in the USA under licence. Under what name didthis aircraft go by?

Put your answers on a postcard and send with your name, address andmembership number to Airfix Issue 8 Competition, PO Box 25, Melton Mowbray,Leicestershire, UK. LE13 1ZG. Closing date for entries is 16th October 2009.

Re-enact your own World War II Dambusters Raid, with our prize this time. You canwin one of the brand new 2009 Airfix models – the amazing A50061 DambustersGift Set in 1:72 scale, containing the legendary Lancaster bomber, as well as a basefeaturing the lake and dam. Under the leadership of Guy Gibson, 617 Squadron RAF‘The Dambusters’ carried out the legendary ‘Operation Chastise’ to successfullydestroy the German Eder and Mohne Dams. The Lancaster had been speciallyconverted to carry the Barnes Wallis wartime invention, ‘the bouncing bomb’.

We are inviting all junior Club members aged 14 or under to enter the competitionto win this collectable prize. All you have to do is answer the following questions.You will find the answers in this issue of the Airfix Club magazine.

1. Name the two German dams that were successfully bombed during thefamous ‘Operation Chastise’ bombing raid.

2. Who invented the ‘bouncing bomb’?

Put your answers on a postcard with your name, age, membership number andaddress and send to Issue 8 Junior Airfix Competition, PO Box 25, Melton Mowbray,Leicestershire, UK. LE13 1ZG. Answers should reach us no later than 16thOctober 2009.

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LEGENDARY DAMBUSTERS!A50061 Dambuster Gift Set

COMPETITION RESULTSThe winner of the competition in Issue 8, receiving an example of the superbA11170 Apollo Saturn V Airfix model in 1:144 scale is Mr R Barwick, Member501132 from Birmingham. Congratulations! The answers to our competitionquestions were: 1. Lunar Excursion Module; Command and Service Module.2. President Nixon.

The winner of our Junior competition is Member 502941, Oliver Toms, aged10 from Kent. Congratulations, Oliver. Your prize of the 1:72 scale Airfix modelkit A50106 One Step for Man is on its way. We hope you enjoy building it.The answers to our junior competition questions were: 1. Neil Armstrong andDr Edwin ‘Buzz’Aldrin 2. 21st July 1969.

AIRFIX SOUVENIR PRODUCTSThose of you who have visited the Airfix Roadshow may well have bought a souvenir from the wide variety of highquality Airfix products available for purchase – a reminder of a great day out. In addition – and especially for Club

members, we are offering £1 off selected souvenir purchases via our website www.airfix.comCollect the series of coasters featuring evocative Airfix box art – from WWIIaircraft to military tanks amongst the wide range of designs. Each one islaminated and heat proof and will look equally good on your dining table or onyour modelling desk! We guarantee, you’ll soon become hooked and wantthem all!

And if you want something to put on your Airfix coaster, invest in our durableAirfix mugs featuring the Airfix logo on both sides – so it doesn’t matter if youare left or right handed! They are also dishwasher proof into the bargain. Logon to www.airfix.com for full details of these and the wide selection of otherAirfix souvenirs, all available to buy online.

Buy on line - Discount code “COASTER” Buy on line - Discount code “MUG”

5 FOR£10NORMAL PRICE £4.99£3.99

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Our cover story in this issue concentrates on theCanberra bomber, reconnaissance plane and latterlya training aircraft, which saw active service fornearly 60 years from the immediate post-war periodto as recently as 2006.

Diary DatesIf you have not managed to get along to any of the events where Airfix haveexhibited already this year, there is still an opportunity to come and meetthe team on the Roadshow at the following venues:

17th October: Autumn Model Show, Fleet Air Arm Museum,Yeovilton, Somerset.

7th-8th November: Scale Model World, IPMS, Telford, Shropshire.Details are correct at the time of going to press. For more information andfurther updates, visit the website at www.airfix.com and click on Events.

EditorialContentsClub News & Forthcoming Releases Pages 2 - 3

The English Electric Canberra Pages 4 - 5

Model Build - Canberra B18 Pages 6 - 7

The Legendary WWII Dambusters Pages 8 - 9

Artists by Jeremy Brook Pages 10 - 11

CLUB NEWS

Well-known BBC 2 Top Gear presenter, James May, has taken some ofBritain’s best loved toys, creating each of them on a grand scale as part ofhis new James May’s Toy Stories programmes to be aired later this year onBBC television.

One of the selected projects has been to construct the world’s largest modelaircraft – a full size Airfix Spitfire, which he recently achieved at the RAFMuseum, Cosford, where the world’s oldest Spitfire is on display in theirwarplanes hangar. Over a three-day period at the end of May 2009, James Mayhad a team of 40 engineers on site to help with the model build – aided by localschoolchildren. The construction of the life-size Airfix model took place in Hangar1 of the Museum.

Hornby win Licence to produce

2012 London Olympics Models...On 21st July, Hornby were delighted to announce the fantastic news that theyhad secured a licence to produce a range of products associated with the 2012London Olympics.

The licence will see a selection of models appearing between now and 2012across the Hornby plc brand names. We have no firm details yet as to whatthe models will be but each will be a unique souvenir of the prestigious event.We’ll bring you more news once the series of models is finalised.

Airfix Facebook and YouTube...Become a fan and subscribe to Facebook and YouTube.

Forthcoming Releases...More of the 2009 Airfix models are coming soonand we review the highlights of the next quarter’srelease programme, focusing on the new additionsto the range. Some models are in the shopsalready, whilst you will see the majority availablebetween now and the end of October, unlessindicated otherwise.

Military FiguresAirfix have added to the 2009 selection of re-released figure models from WWII,including British, German and US personnel. Each set comprises of 14 piecesand all come under the Series 2 heading and will be available from September.Finished in 1:32 scale, they come in a new paintable material with the paintingguides shown on the boxes.

Military VehiclesA02316 DUKW 1:76 scale. 50 pieces, with 1 kit variation.

A02337 WWI ‘Female' Tank 1:76 scale. 1 kit variation. The tooling for this model hasbeen modified to provide additional parts.

A04031 Churchill Bridge Layer 1:76 scale. 124 pieces, with 1 kit variation.

BBMF Gift SetsA50065 BBMF Fighter Collector – Five Fighters

This 1:72 scale set comprises five aircraft out of the seven Battle of Britain MemorialFlight fighter complement. It contains the Spitfire MkIIa, Spitfire MkVb, SpitfireMkLIXe, Spitfire PRXIX and the Hurricane MkIIc, each with its own display stand.

Themed CollectionsA50061 Dambusters Gift Set 1:72 scale. 108 pieces. Length 294mm. Width 432mm.

The Aifix set includes the Dambusters Lancaster, as well as a base with the lakeand dam, to enable you to create a realistic display of this legendary mission.

A50104 Titanic 1:700 scale. 141 pieces, producing a model 385mm long and43mm wide. This new 2009 Airfix introduction recreates arguably the most ill-fatedpassenger ship of all time. RMS Titanic was an Olympic-class passenger linerowned by the White Star Line and built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.On the night of 14th April 1912, during her maiden voyage, Titanic struck an iceberg.Two hours and forty minutes later, early on 15th April, she sank with the loss of1517 lives. At the time of her launching in 1912, she was the largest passengersteamship in the world.

Hoist the White Ensign...Royal Navy...A50105 – 100th Anniversary of Naval Aviation 1:72scale. 2009 marks the centenary of the first use of aviation by the Royal Navy,and under the ‘Fly Navy 100’ banner, celebrations are being held throughout theyear at key UK locations, including Yeovilton, Somerset; Manston, Kent; and a FlyNavy 100 Fly Past in Liverpool on 17th October in the presence of HMS Illustrious.The history of naval flying is one of the most remarkable and from the first flight ofthe airship ‘The Mayfly’ in 1909 to the modern day fighter planes and helicopters,the use of aircraft to support naval warfare has been crucial.

This Airfix model kit recreates various milestones in the history of the Fleet AirArm and comes with glue, brushes and sufficient acrylic paints to create thefinished display.

Military AircraftA03078 Sea Harrier FRS1 1:72 scale. 112 pieces, with 3 kit variations.

A03079 Sea Harrier FA2 1:72 scale. 115 pieces, with 3 kit variations.

Amongst the wealth of new tooling in this popular Airfix category are two versionsof the Sea Harrier. Both are in 1:72 scale and are part of the Series 3 category.Look out for them in your local Airfix stockist from October. The first is A03078the Sea Harrier FRS1, which contains 112 pieces to make up a model 172 mmlong and 38mm wide. In real life, this version of the Sea Harrier is best known forits successful campaign in the Falklands War in 1982, where it had the accoladeof suffering no air-to-air losses against the Argentine forces during the conflict.

The second version is A03079 the Sea Harrier FA2, replicating the first UK aircraftto carry the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile. The first operational deployment was inApril 1994 as part of the UN force in Bosnia, where it was called on by groundtroops for air support. The Airfix version has 115 pieces and when complete, hasa length of 198mm and a wingspan of 106mm.

Other new introductions comprise:

A01034 Yak 9D 1:72 scale. 30 pieces, with 2 kit variations.

A01039 Bell P-39Q Airacobra 1:72 scale. 37 pieces, with over 2 kit variations.

A01050 Hannover CL111. 1:72 scale. 31 pieces, with 2 kit variations.

A01073 Grumman Widgeon/Gosling 1:72 scale. 37 pieces, with 2 kit variations.

A01076 RE8 1:72 Scale. 33 pieces, with 2 kit variations.

A01080 Bristol Fighter F2B 1:72 scale. 33 pieces, with 2 kit variations.

A02031 Curtiss SB2C Helldiver 1:72 scale. 76 pieces, with over 2 kit variations.

A02037 MiG 15 1:72 scale. 53 pieces, with 3 kit variations.

A02044 Vought F4U Corsair (FAA) 1:72 scale. 35 pieces, with 2 kit variations.

A02065 Supermarine Spitfire Mk IXc 1:72 scale. 38 pieces, with 2 kit variations.

A02096 Hawker Hurricane Mk IIc 1:72 scale. 3 kit variations. Available November.

A04048 Westland Sea King HAS.5/AEW.2 1:72 scale. 2 kit variations.This kit has newparts added to model the latest Royal Navy varieties.

The Canberra features predominantly in the Airfix range too, with two new releasesin 1:72 scale joining the existing 1:48 scale kits. Read about its history as well asa step-by-step guide to building your Airfix model. Also in this issue, we cover thestory of the famous Dambusters Raid of 617 Squadron in May 1943.

Looking forward to Issue 9, we promise a bumper edition with lots of news of the2010 ranges, as well as a roundup of all the Airfix news and happenings leadingup to the end of December 2009.

James May builds 1:1 Airfix Spitfire as part of his newToy Stories TV series

Airfix RoadshowThe Airfix roadshow season is in full swing and already we have welcomedmany Club members to the Airfix marquee or aboard the Roadshow vehicle,where we have had a presence at key events across the UK. As usual, ourMake and Paint activity has proved extremely popular bringing new people intothe hobby and we also have a range of souvenirs to take away on the day, fromhigh quality coasters featuring our Airfix box art, to mugs and models.

All this, in addition to a display of the current and forthcoming Airfix releaseprogramme, makes a visit to the Airfix stand a very enjoyable experience.

The detailed project included positioning the wings and propeller, as well aspainting the aircraft in the correct colour scheme.

The programme is one of six episodes being shown in the autumn, eachconcentrating on a favourite British toy. Others include Scalextric and Hornby,which is certainly something to look forward to!

A02701 British Paratroops

A02702 German Infantry

A02703 US Infantry

A02705 British Commandos

A02707 British 8th Army

A02708 Afrika Korps

A02711 US Paratroops

A02712 German Paratroops

A02718 British Infantry

www.facebook.com/officialairfixwww.youtube.com/officialairfix

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BRITAIN'S FIRST JET BOMBER...

THE ENGLISH ELECTRIC CANBERRAThe Airfix range of aircraft reflects the significance of thepopular the EE Canberra, Britain’s first jet bomber, whichin real life flew from the immediate post war for almost

60 years in active service.

Over the years, the Canberra evolved further over 27 variants, 901of which were made in the UK. Because of demand, English Electricwas to sub-contract building to Handley Page and Short Brothers &Harland over the years.

The Canberra was to see service with 35 RAF squadrons betweenthe 1950s and 1970s, as well as being expor ted to countriesacross the world for use as a bomber, a reconnaissance plane anda training aircraft. Its speed (871 km/h) and a high altitude serviceceiling of 48,000 ft made it entirely suitable for avoiding air-to-aircombat. It was used by the RAF as a bomber in several worldconflicts, including the Suez Crisis and the Korean War and waseven used by the Argentine Air Force during the Falklands War in theearly 1980s. The Canberra PR9 was the photo-reconnaissance versionof the B(I)8, with stretched fuselage and increased wingspan to carryseveral cameras. Thir ty-nine were built, three of which weretransferred to Chile after the Falklands War. In the UK, the PR9reconnaissance version was in use until 2006, serving with 39 (1PRU)Squadron, including missions to Iraq and Afghanistan.

It was formally retired from the RAF on 23rd June, 2006. The officialceremony took place at RAF Marham on 28th July and included aflypast by a Canberra PR9 on its last ever sortie.

In the USA, the Canberra was manufactured under licence by Martinas the B-57 Canberra with subsequent modifications suitable for theUS Air Force. The last remaining Canberra aircraft still in activeservice are B-57s in the USA where they are being used for highaltitude research.

The latest introductions – A05038 Canberra B(I)8 and the A05039 - thePR.9 Reconnaissance version, are both in 1:72 scale, complementingthe four existing 1:48 scale variations, including the Martin B-57BCanberra, made in the USA, under licence from English Electric.

The Canberra was conceived as early as 1944 when the Air Ministrywere looking for a replacement for the de Havilland Mosquito bomber.English Electric won the contract to design the new aircraft. Eventhough they had little experience in the field, they were well establishedand their innovative chief designer, W E W Petter had workedpreviously at Westland.

The contract was signed in 1945 although it was 13th May 1949before the first prototype VN799 – the Canberra Mk 1 – took to the air,piloted by Wing Command Roland (Roley) Beaumont, a distinguishedwartime pilot and by now English Electric’s chief test pilot.

The Canberra’s performance caught the attention of the US Air Forcewho saw it in action in British skies in 1950. The following February,Roley Beaumont flew the Canberra – B2 WD932 – non-stop acrossthe Atlantic on a promotional visit. The USAF were so impressed, theysigned a licence-building agreement, using the Canberra WD940 asa basis for their own modified version – the B-67A Martin. EnglishElectric chose the name Canberra after the capital of Australia, thefirst export customer of the new aircraft. Appropriately, the officialnaming was carried by the Australian Prime Minister of the day, SirRobert Menzies on 19th January 1951.

The Mk I was unarmed, had been built for a crew of two and –because it had been constructed for use with radar – had a solid noserather than a visual bombing facility.

With minor exceptions, the Canberra was all metal and the fuselagehad two bomb-bay compartments. It also had ejector seats –except for the B(I)8 and its export version, where the navigator hada parachute.

The prototype Mk I needed few modifications and the Canberra B.2first flew in April 1950, with an increased crew capacity of three, aclear nose for visual bombing and wingtip fuel tanks. It entered servicewith the RAF in May 1951. The B(I)8, of which 72 were built, was athird generation Canberra, developed from the B.6 as interdictor. It firstflew on 23rd July 1954.

A05038 1:72 scale Canberra B(I)8

Test Pilot ‘Roley’ Beaaumont (centre) greets USAFand Glenn Martin Company personnel.

Rober t Menzies (right – Prime Minister ofAustralia, ‘officially’ christens the Canberraon 19th January 1951.

Canberra B2 of No.100 Squadron Canberra PR9 of No.1 PRUSquadron 1987

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1. Most aircraft kits start with the cockpit. This one is no different. Eightparts make up the cockpit structure. There is some detailing, but mostwill be hidden once the kit is finished. All parts were painted black.(Picture 1).

2. The cockpit detail was highlighted by dry brushing with white paintand various switches were picked out with red and yellow paint. Thepilot’s seat is made up of four parts and the navigator/bomb aimer’sis three parts. Seat belts are moulded into the seat backs should youwish to omit the pilots. The pilots themselves have separate armswhich you can pose yourself. (Picture 2).

3. The insides of the fuselage and bomb bay were sprayed with MattBlack H33 (Picture 3).

4. Be careful when adding the two bulkheads to the bomb bay as it istapered towards the rear and although the bulkheads look the sameone is very slightly wider than the other. If it’s assembled wrong itwon’t fit. (Picture 4).

5. The next stage is to glue the cockpit into one fuselage half, add thenose gear well and add the bomb bay. Before closing up the two

fuselage halves the instructions tell you to add 45gms in the areaabove the nose wheel well. I did this with some lead shot wrapped incling film and then taped in place. I thought I had added enough weightas the fuselage was heavy but unfortunately it wasn’t enough and thekit became a tail sitter. There is a tail support piece included in the kitbut if you don’t want to use it then make sure you put in as muchweight as you can! (Picture 5).

6. Now the fuselage has been glued together take one last look at theNavigator/bomb aimer as that’s the last you’re going to see of him!(Picture 6).

7. Now to start the wings. One thing to note on these new Airfix kitsis the sprue gates are quite large which does prevent parts fallingoff their sprues but extra cleaning up is required. Here you can seewhere the ailerons will fit but will snag unless you carefully trim themoff. (Picture 7).

8. The engine intakes, exhausts, control surfaces and wheel wells areall separate parts. A tiny amount of filler was applied around theengines then sanded. The wings were then primed (Humbrol Acrylic

spray) and any extra filling or sanding was done before a final coatof primer. (Picture 8).

9. Humbrol Maskol was applied to the canopy and other windows aroundthe nose. The wings were added and the whole kit was primed.(Picture 9).

10. This kit comes with three colour options. Two Green/Grey over Silverfor either the Royal Air Force or the Royal New Zealand Air Force,and the third option is an overall Silver aircraft of the South AfricanAir Force, which is the one I chose. The assembly was sprayed withSilver (Humbrol 11) after masking out the bomb bay. Soon after thepaint was sprayed, the Maskol was removed as it's best not to leaveit on for too long in case it marks the clear parts. (Picture 10).

11. The undercarriage was assembled and painted Humbrol H56Aluminium. The wing flaps, bomb bay doors and undercarriage doorswere also painted aluminium on the insides and were given a lightwash of black paint to emphasise the recesses. (Picture 11)

12. All of the parts in the previous section were then glued in place. Thewing flaps can be fixed either open or closed. The kit comes with

various under wing stores with the choice of none, one or two hardpoints per wing and a mixture of extra bombs, rockets or missiles.You also get a gun pack to fix to the bomb bay doors in the closedposition. I chose to do the SAAF Canberra with a two pairs of rocketpods. (Picture 12).

13. Now the decaling. The decals were all in register with perfect colourdensity. They are thin without being brittle and none broke up. Themost time consuming part was adding the black lines on the upperwings. There are thirteen separate black line decals for each wing.I star ted at the wing root then went to the rear of the wing, outtowards the tip and back along the front. One thing to watch out foris the South African insignia are handed and the Springboks arejumping towards the fuselage. (Picture 13).

14. With all the decals in place the only other thing to add was an aerialwire made from invisible mending thread attached each end with alittle super glue gel. (Picture 14).

15. All finished! It’s a great kit of the popular subject and making it in theSouth African scheme does make a refreshing change to all thecamouflaged ones you usually see. (Picture 15).

In this edition of the Airfix magazine, our residentmodeller shows you how to build your own CanberraB(I)8 aircraft. Modelled in 1:72 scale, this new additionto the Airfix range is available under model numberA05038. Just follow the guideline text and relatedimages – to produce a fine replica ofBritain’s first jet bomber.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

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The Legendary WWII

617 Squadron, RAFAn evocative addition to the 2009 Airfix Themed Collections is the newly tooled 1:72 scaleA50061 Dambusters Gift Set, containing the Lancaster bomber A-J-G ED932 of Wing CommanderGuy Gibson.

The set also comes with a base featuring a lakeand dam, to create complete realism.

Its introduction recalls one of the most famoussquadrons of WWII, 617 Squadron, as well as themost publicised bombing raid of the entire conflict.

Each aspect of this daring raid is now legendary, from theLancaster aircraft and its ammunition -‘the bouncing bomb’– to the airmen who flew in ‘Operation Chastise’, the codename for the carefully engineered night time raid aimed atdestroying key German targets on the night of 16th –17th May1943. The great dams, which supplied the hydro-electricpower to the heart of Germany, were based in the Ruhr Valley.The British Air Ministry considered that putting these out ofaction was a key element in winning the war. Not only did thedams provide power to Germany’s industrial heartland butthey also fed water into the key canal transport systems.

Careful planning and the need for extreme accuracy were crucial andthe use of several innovative features was to prove vital if the missionto bomb the dams were to succeed. An expert aircrew with experiencein intensive night and low-altitude flying was needed.

Each aircraft was to carry an ‘upkeep’ mine, also known as a‘bouncing bomb’ developed by Dr Barnes Wallis, a scientist, engineerand inventor. The bomb was designed specifically to bounce towardsa target across the water, avoiding the torpedo nets laid by the enemyto resist attack. The plan was for the bombs to be dropped onto thewater, to skip across the nets and explode underwater once they hitthe dam wall.

To achieve this, the pilot had to know when the aircraft was at thecorrect altitude and at a precise distance from the target. Therefore,two spotlights were mounted on the Lancaster – one under the noseand one under the fuselage. The convergence of their light beams onthe surface of the water indicated the correct height of the aircraft.In addition, the Mohne and Eder dams had a tower at each end andthe use of a special aiming device with the position of the tower asa guide enabled the aircrew to release the bomb at the right time.

Having already become a legendary leader within Bomber Command,the expertise of Guy Gibson – with over 170 missions to his name -was called upon to form a special squadron known as the 617Squadron ‘The Dambusters’, to make the attack.

On the night of 16-17th May 1943, nineteen modified Lancasters,including Gibson’s own – A-J-G - of 617 Squadron, took off from RAFScampton on the mission ‘Operation Chastise’. The targets were theMohne and Sorpe Dams in the Ruhr region, as well as the Eder Damon the river Eder.

The Lancasters flew out in three groups, one to attack the Mohne andthe Eder, one to attack the Sorpe and the third to act as back up tocomplete the bombing operation, if necessary.

The raid was deemed a great success. Both the Mohne and Eder damswere breached, releasing a torrent of water which flooded the wholeof the valley, causing great disruption to industry and communications.The bombing of the Sorpe Dam resulted in some damage but notsufficient to breach the wall.

However, the cost of success was high. Eight of the nineteenLancasters were lost, 53 crewmen were killed and three captured.The raid, however, proved a massive morale booster throughout theallied world, showing that the war was winnable. Guy Gibsonwas awarded the Victoria Cross and 34 of his menwere also decorated.

DAMBUSTERS

8

The set also comes with a basefeaturing a lake and dam, to createcomplete realism.

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As you can see from the latest boxtopsand the other articles in this issue of the

Airfix Club’s newsletter, Airfix are employingdigital artwork for its new releases. This newform of artwork still requires an artist to ‘paint’the picture but most of the work is performedusing the computer. This was not alwaysthe case.For the first 60 years of its kit-making life andbefore everyone had a Personal Computer,Airfix employed a variety of artists to illustrateits models.Some were renowned marine and aviationartists and others were lesser-known but whononetheless became famous because of theirAirfix artistry.

The first official ar tist was Charles Oates, who also worked ontelevision. He created the design of the first real standardised boxtopsincluding the dividing stripe down the middle. When Airfix decided touse full-colour pictures on its boxtops and headers in 1963, CharlesOates painted some of the first releases. To cater for the ship kits,William Howard Jarvis, a famous marine artist, was employed toillustrate the ship models. His painting of H.M.S. Victorious was usedfor this year’s re-release of this kit. Sadly he died in 1964.

Fortunately for Airfix, a young artist called Roy Cross joined Airfix atthat time and was to become the resident artist for the next ten years.He was later joined by Brian Knight, who had also worked forRevell and Frog.

Between them they would create what is arguably the finestcollection of artwork of any kit company. Brian concentrated on thelarge sailing ships and figure sets, whilst Roy painted practicallyeverything else.

These stirring action paintings with “all guns blazing” (at least onthe military kits), tempted vast numbers of schoolboys in the 1960’sand 70’s to par t with their hard-earned pocket money to buy thelatest Airfix kit. If you are a fan of Roy’s artwork, then you can buyhis latest book, “The Vintage Years of Airfix Box Art”, in which manyof these paintings have been reproduced for us to savour.

Following Roy’s departure in 1974, to pursue a highly successfulcareer as a marine artist, Airfix employed a variety of other artists.Roy’s successor was Ken McDonough, whose artistic style wasvery similar to Roy’s. Perhaps his best painting is of the 1:24 Stukadiving and releasing its bombs. This was quite a controversial paintingat the time of its release in 1976, because Airfix considered that theStuka should be portrayed in dive-bombing mode which necessitatedthe box standing on its end. This worried some shopkeepers whothought it might easily topple over from a high shelf! I for one, amvery pleased to see that the recent re-release of this kit, once againuses Ken’s brilliant picture. During the late 1970’s many of the earlypaintings were redone and in some cases Roy’s paintings werereplaced.

The early ship paintings were re-painted by Geoff Hunt who is nowmore famous as the artist who painted the covers for the Jack Aubreybooks by Patrick O’Brian (“Master and Commander”). In the early1980’s, most of the boxtops utilised photographs of the made-upmodels so it is not until the mid 1980’s that we see a return topaintings.

The next regular artist was Gavin Mcleod who worked throughoutmuch of the Humbrol era and produced some stunning airbrushartwork. He is responsible for the superb Lightning and late-markSpitfire paintings amongst others. His 1:48 Buccaneer painting is aparticular favourite of mine. Following his early death, he was replacedby John D. Jones who painted the recent 1:48 Canberras and themighty Nimrod. This saw a return to brush painting for the pictures,which was continued up to 2009.

Over the years there have been several artists who were probablyemployed on a freelance basis. Each had his own style and theirboxtops can generally be easily picked out.

In 1988, Humbrol suffered a serious fire which damaged much ofthe artwork. Quite a few paintings were ‘repainted’ for the insurersand these were mainly executed by Doug Gray.

Whilst his paintings generally follow the outline of Roy Cross’ picturesthey definitely have a darker quality and are easily recognisable. TheSunderland, Blenheim and Wellington are amongst his paintings.

One artist, who painted several aircraft in the mid 1970’s and whosepaintings I always thought were particularly fine, was Ron Jobson.For thir ty years I wanted to know who painted the second Il-28,Avenger and Thunderbolt pictures and then in Arthur Ward’s latestbook, “The Boys’ Book of Airfix”, all was revealed! I have since seenthe transparencies which reveal his signature.

His paintings were beautifully painted with much fine detail and I wishhe could have painted more.

Other notable artists were James Goulding who painted many of the“Aircraft of the Aces” boxtops and J. Sturgess who also paintedsome of these.

Recently Mike Trimm painted the two 1:400 scale destroyers andKeith Woodcock illustrated the range of ex-JB Armoured FightingVehicles.

There have been other artists who have painted various pictures overthe years and a careful examination of the artwork in catalogues andon the boxtops will enable one to identify which models were probablypainted by them.

The new digital artwork is very good and for those modellers whoprefer computer-generated ar twork, Airfix are releasing a 2010Calendar which features many of these digital paintings so you canenjoy them all year.

Further details about the artwork and artists can be foundin “Constant Scale”, the magazine of the Airfix Collectors’Club. See the Clubs Directory page of the Airfix Club websitefor more details.

An article by Jeremy Brook