A very good excuse…
a. For a trip to the local hobby shop.
b. To purchase a fresh Airfix ” Vintage Classic “.
c. To use up the decals that I got with my first Hampden.
d. To see if Airix have corrected the flaws of that first kit.
I do not really expect (d.) to eventuate. The moulds for this aircraft are well-old; Scalemates says the original was cut in 1968. My first encounter was a re-box issued in 2010 and it was problematical. Heavily flashed and riveted, prone to sink marks, and distorted on the fuselage underside.
I struggled on, overcame the distortions, and finished it in RAF Bomber Command colours. It was rewarding in the end. The decal sheet included at the time did what the ” Vintage Classic ” packaging does not: it supplied roundels and numbers for a Svenska Flygvapnet aircraft.
The Swedes did import one aircraft before the war, did not get more, but used the example as a trials and reconnaissance aircraft for decades. I will be able to use the roundels off the sheet but may need to find alternative numbering. I have already found photos on the net of it wearing two different ones – the Airfix decal sheet is different still, and I wonder if they have more definite knowledge.
In any case the moulded plastic parts are a lot darker, a tad harder, and not distorted. I will deal with the noisome rivets this time and hope to get a better looking result. I am delighted to read that the Swedes never armed the thing with machine guns and sealed up the MG slots in the canopies against the cold. Less things to get knocked off.
It also means I do not need to mount the hunched up gunners or bomb-aimer either – only a pilot needed. The instructions show him legless, but the moulding is fully limbed. Time to research Swedish flying uniforms.
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