Airfix – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome to the very first episode of our brand-new podcast!

To kick things off, we’re diving into the golden age of aviation with the iconic Boeing 314 “Clipper.”

A symbol of luxury and long-haul travel in the late 1930s and ’40s, this majestic flying boat offered passengers an experience more like a cruise than a flight—complete with dining rooms, sleeping bunks, and plush lounges.

Operated by Pan Am and later BOAC, the Clipper flew across oceans in style, defining the glamour of early air travel. And now, thanks to Airfix’s Vintage Classics range, you can recreate this aviation marvel in model form. It’s a fitting subject for episode one—celebrating the elegance, ambition, and craftsmanship of a bygone era.

Our new Supermarine Spitfire Tr.9 kit has unquestionably been at the top of the new tooling pre-ordering charts since it was announced early this year, and along with the new SEPECAT Jaguar, have shown themselves to be the two new models we know people are most desperate to get their hands on.

For this reason, we know that news of its release will come as a welcome development, and we hope this full project overview will serve as a fitting introduction for this highly anticipated new kit.

As we welcome this new Ferret kit to the current Airfix range, we will be taking this update opportunity to look a little more closely at the wider Ferret story, to showcase a beautiful selection of built model images, and to include details behind the three scheme options which are included with this highly anticipated second release.

With two different variants, and six scheme options now available across two kit releases, we can now genuinely boast a ‘business’ of Ferrets hiding somewhere within the 2025 Airfix kit range, just waiting to be discovered and given new homes.

Welcome to this latest edition of our Workbench blog and all the news, updates, and modelling exclusives from the fascinating world of Airfix.

With so many new model release additions joining the Airfix range at this present moment, it didn’t take us long to decide that it was time to unleash the latest double blog weekend on our loyal Workbench audience, as we try to keep pace with all the new model arrivals. The subject of this latest kit update is the return of our 1/48th scale Folland Gnat, particularly as it’s returning with the two scheme options with which this delightful model made its range debut back in 2014. A famous British jet trainer from the 1960s and 70s, the Gnat continues to attract new modelling admirers to this day, by virtue of its diminutive size and stunning good looks. How two fully equipped RAF airmen managed to squeeze themselves inside the cockpit of a Gnat, is another story altogether.

With this beautiful little model already in our warehouse and available, we will be marking its re-introduction by looking at the history of this jet which not only trained hundreds of pilots, but also became one of the most famous in post war history, as the mount of the celebrated Red Arrows. We will also take a closer look at the two scheme options which feature with this kit, and by showcasing a selection of built model images finished in both, attempt to help readers decide which of the two gets their vote, in advance of this kit taking up residency on their own workstations.

We have a true British aviation ‘Pocket Rocket’ for your consideration in this second blog release of the weekend.

In this latest edition of our Workbench blog, we will be attempting to chart the early development of military aviation through the medium of impending new model kit releases to the current Airfix range, as we have a trio of Great War related releases scheduled for imminent arrival. All three aircraft were introduced over a 30 month period from the period just prior to the outbreak of war, with each one highlighting the increasing influence of aviation on military thinking and ultimately, how the aeroplane transformed from an aerial observation platform, to a deadly dominator of the skies.

As the Airfix team are engaged in making final preparations for our attendance at this year’s Royal International Air Tattoo, our latest Workbench update features our latest scale tribute to an aircraft which has to be described as one of the most significant of the post war era, the current RAF incarnation of which is scheduled to be thrilling the crowds at Fairford in just a few days’ time, the mighty Boeing Chinook. This twin rotor behemoth is a heavy lift helicopter phenomenon, an aircraft whose everyday routine taskings are anything but routine, and a helicopter the world has come to rely on over the past 63 years or so.

As the second release from our newly tooled Boeing Chinook HC 1 kit is just about to arrive in our warehouse, and is surely destined to prove as popular as the inaugural release, we’re devoting this edition to the wonderful world of the Wokka, looking at why both the aviation world and modelling/enthusiast communities just can’t get enough of this magnificent and historic aircraft. In addition to taking a little historic overview of the Chinook’s service life with the Royal Air force, we will be looking in a little more detail at the two scheme options which are included with this second release, with the added benefit of having eye’s on a selection of built model images, featuring kits finished in both of those scheme options.

One of the main offensive assets the Allied air forces could call upon during the Second World War was the availability of large numbers of capable four engined heavy bombers. Both Britain and America introduced aircraft capable of carrying the fight to enemy occupied Europe, with the Luftwaffe’s inability to match them thought by many to be one of the most significant factors in them ultimately losing the war. Both Britain and America could call upon the destructive services of three different four engined heavy bombers during WWII, with the Avro Lancaster joining the Short Stirling and Handley Page Halifax in Bomber Command service, pounding countless German targets by night.

The Americans also had three such aircraft, the impressive late war Boeing B-29 Superfortress joining the B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator which were already in service, although as far as many people are concerned, this particular story started and ended with the Flying Fortress. For whatever the reason maybe, the B-17 seemed to capture the imagination of the world, and as such, is often regarded by many as the most famous and most important four engined heavy bomber of the war, even though the B-24 Liberator was produced in greater numbers and was arguably the better aircraft.

As we welcome what is just the second release from our new 1/72nd scale Consolidated B-24 Liberator tooling to the 2025 range, this latest update will help us attempt to redress this historic imbalance by discovering why the B-24 was much more than just an aircraft which served as a support act for the Flying Fortress throughout the USAAF daylight bombing campaign against Germany in WWII, and is deserving of much greater recognition than it usually receives.

A true WWII aviation heavyweight is under the Airfix modelling spotlight in this latest edition of Workbench.

Welcome to this latest edition of our Workbench blog and all the news, updates, and modelling exclusives from the fascinating world of Airfix.

As the Airfix team return from our attendance at the Royal International Air Tattoo, and four long and intense days of working and talking all things modelling and aeroplanes, we wanted to take this Workbench opportunity to make those who couldn’t make this year’s show aware of our exclusive show announcement, and a further unexpected kit addition to the 2025 range. If you’re attending the world’s greatest military Airshow and intend to unveil a new kit at such a prestigious event, you’d better make sure it’s a BIG one, and in this regard, we pulled out all the stops.

When it comes to aircraft types which can claim to have earned the status of aviation icon, nothing comes close to rivalling the reputation of the Supermarine Spitfire, so if you need a new kit announcement which possesses real hobby gravitas, look no further than the Spitfire in our largest 1/24th scale, a Super Kit in every sense. A project which has seen us collaborating with some influential partners, this latest large scale kit announcement is so much more than just a re-issue of an existing kit, it’s one which boasts some unique and appealing additions, but one which also attempts to draw attention to an unusual and very human story from the final year of the war in Europe.

Welcome to this latest edition of our Workbench blog and all the news, updates, and modelling exclusives from the fascinating world of Airfix.

We have something very different as our subject matter up for review this time around, as we prepare to welcome the first of three appealing High Speed Craft additions to our Vintage Classics range in 1/72nd scale. Some of the most impressive kits to have ever taken their place within various Airfix ranges, and models which make highlight additions to any collection of built kits, the first anticipated arrival of the three is the RAF Rescue Launch, a series of high speed vessels which plied their trade in the English Channel, North Sea and whilst stationed on overseas deployments.

Real speedsters of the seas, these vessels were not only dedicated to the rescue of downed airmen forced to ditch or bail out at sea, but could also be required to support wider Royal Naval operations on occasion, bringing their great speed and impressive firepower to bear in either a defensive, or offensive capacity.

A fascinating subject which has resulted in the creation of this truly classic Airfix kit, we will see how these ‘Spitfires of the Sea’ possessed more than just a passing connection to Britain’s aviation industry, along with how the use of the RAF roundel was more than just for decorative purposes.

With an impressive selection of built model images to illustrate this latest feature, and two appealing scheme options for us all to discover, please join us as we step aboard some of the most impressive boats to have ever launched from a UK boat house in this latest edition of Workbench.