/jJ[J[j][f[J)J magazine

For plastic modellers

O N E SHILLI N G MONTHLY
AUGUST 1963

IN THIS ISSUE
Build i ng a mod el travelling cra ne * Paris Ai r Sh ow- full
report * Easy conve rsions on the Church ill tank * Rules
and rags fo r slot rac in g* Profile: High·fl yi ng W ell ingtons
 Be a motor race ace with

MOTOR RACING
Here' s your chance to race your own car;
to handle a realistic red Ferrari or racing
green Cooper for lap after lap of exciting,
twisting track. T hrottle back now f or a
corne r, and then accelerate out hard to
build up those vi tal extra inches lead.
There's 11 feet of st rongly·constru cted
track to race on-inc luding a swooping ,
road-hopping fly-o yer-an d you can
assemb le it as you like or buy extra track
to make even lon ger 'laps'.
Being Airfix, the cars are authen tic 1/32nd
scale models. They have full Ackermann
steering f or natura l cornering; they run
off mains or battery and you 'handle' them
with sepa rate speed remote cont r oller s.
For real thrills and excitement be an Airfix
Motor A ce- it's terrific value at only £4.19.11.

ALL THIS YOU GET

IN THE AIRFIX
MOTOR RACING KIT-

1 1/32nd scale Cooper ca r

1 1/32nd scale Ferrari ca r
2 speed contro llers
11 feet of double track
14 crash ba rriers
Bridge suppo rts , and bankings

ALL PACKED
IN A STRONG
STORAGE BOX

£4.19.11
Abou£6. 19. 11 with lotusal1d
Porsc he ClIrs , and 15 feet of
double track.
From toy, hobby. and model shops everywh ere

Just like the EXCITING real th ing

AIRFIX MOTOR RACING

Airfi x Products Ltd. , Haldane Place, Garratt Lane, London , S.W.18
 On sale from August 1st
HOBBIES 1964
ANNUAL
Outstanding value for 2/ 6
Get your copy now of this co mpletely
revised publication. consisting of 184 pages
crammed with interest for the modeller.
woodworker and handyman. Details of
hundreds of gifts , novelty and mod el projects
fo r all members of the family.
TWO DESIGNS, worth 5/ ·, gi ven FREE
with eac h copy for maki ng the extra large
'DREAMHOLME' Doll's House and the
fascinating Swiss Water Wheel whose paddle
revolves. lights come on, and a tune plays
when roof is lifted for a cigarette.
To Hobb ies Ltd ., Dept . 16. Oereham,
Norfolk .
Please send copy of Hobbies 19M Annual
containing Two FREE Designs. I enclose 3/ ·
From all newsagents, bookstalls, (including postage).
model and handycraft shops, Name ........ . .
Hobbies branches and stockists, Address ... ... .
price 2/ 6 (by post 6d. ext ra) .

MERIT Aircraft Kit• . MONOGRAM

N,w 1 in. sClle Hellcat
SLOT-RACING
Se. 1/ 48. 4/ 11. Bristol AI"FIX
Bulldo, ; /4.vro 501K ; 17/ ' ; othe r 1 in. models: MOTOR ftACING
PYRO FAVOURITE
Dauntless 17/'; Grum· FORDS
french N ie uport; D.H. man Wildcat Il l ' ; Hell- B.M.W . offer the full These little ,ems are very
Ti,er Moth; SE-SA Scout ; div e r 17/ ' ; Aven,er ran,e of all available near to 1112 scale and
Sopwith Came l; fok'ke r 17/ , ; C-47 Sky train Il l ' : items. New items will be with justa little work c ln
OR I Triplane; German 1/ 72 scale : Thunderchid despatched as loon as be adapted to a .Ii,htl y
fokke r 0 _7: German 11 / ' ; 8 · 25 MitcheU released . stretched V.I. P. chas. is.
Alburos. Bomber 11 /' : B-26 In- ALL CARS ' ( 11 e.ch.
MODEL MAKER'S
' I ll : fairey Swordfish;vader Bomber (ne ar POWER DRILLS ' 32 Ford " s' Roadster;
Supermarine Walrus. scale) 11 / " ')6 Ford ROl.dlter; '40
THE Ford Cou pe ; ' .., Ford
The monthly illultrat_d NEW MINIDRILLS
B. M .W . NEWS SPECIAL for drillin, plastic, thin Tudor.
will keep you up to date w ith new. of forth. aluminium and precious V.I.P. Club Special
comin, models and new imporu. Subscribe me tals. Chant. ... ... 4l/ .
now and be the first with all the Inelt develop· No. I only 27/' works V".P. Standa rd
menu. An nual subscr iption only 8/ 6, Sample from standard d ry bat- Chassis ... 1'/ .
copy 'd. post free . tery, 5.000 revs. per V.I.P. Tyr.s ••et o,,", 1/ .
min ute, V.I.P. Driver with
FROG 1/ 71Sc. inStock. HUBLEY No. 6 '7/ ' . A super steedn, wheel.. . I / t
On request w e now re. Ro lls- Royce Silver model, I,ain works from Other V.I.P. it ems as
stOl;.k all available fro, standard dry battery and available .
Clo ud Sc. 1/ 2-4 If/ II
1/ 72 kiu indudin,: Packard (Plastic & includes drill, carborun- Superahell,
metal) 5c. 1/ 22nd 4'/ . dum wheel, polisher, latest
2/ -: Miles Master; Miles burr and rotuy brus h.
Maciste r; Sea fury; Ho nd. Super Cub " E" type JAGS
Kittyhawk, Hawker Ty- Motor Cycle 5/ 11 ALL MINIDRILL acces· I/ ll 11/ ' each
phoon; Ze ro; FW_I90; sor ies and Ipareutocked. SCALEXTRIC
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EVERY All the new items just
1/ . : Sristo l Seaufort; Inland ' under l], 1/ 6 per as lOOn u they become
Airspe ed O xford ; Hot_ pound : ove r £] post free . AIRFIX availl.ble.
I ur 11; Wesse x. Oveneas: la e extra. KIT MOTOR UNITS
Scale)(tr1c ... Il/ IO
PIISONAI. CAlI.IaS WaCOMI
B.M.W.
(MODElS) THE MODEL MAIL ORDER HOUSE
Romford Terrier 21/ _
Romford Phantom It/ .
K's Mk. 112/ . Mk. 1I 17/ '
Airfix ... 10/ '
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329 HAYDONS ROAD, WIMBLEDON, S.W.19 LIB 7707 Multi Geubox 24/ .

65
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66
 iJ[J[f][f[JE
MAGAZINE
For plastic modellers everywhere

V OLUME 4 NUMBER 3 AUGUST U., ONI SHILLING MONTHLY

eD ITORIAL DIIUlCTOK
A/au Bril/IOII Bigger and better
ED ITOR
Joh" B11H1stlell O UR editorial mail bag is never short of letters from
ASSOCIATE ED ITOR
readers offering hints and suggestions on how we
Darry' Reach can improve the contents of AlRFlX MAGAZIN E. On
ART EDITOR
the other hand, we receive a similar volume of
Michael Rogers correspondence expressing satisfaction at the present
ADVERTISEMENT D IRECTOR
contents. In an effort to please both groups, we are
Patrick Stephells adopting a bigger format from our September issue
ED ITORIAL OFFICES
(on sale August 28) which will enable us to display
Brands Hatch Circuit. our contents in a brighter, easier·to·read manner.
Fawkham, Dartford, Kent Besides brighter layout, we also have plans for
Telephone : West Ash 411 better contents, with more of a practical modelling
ADVERTISEME NT DEPARTMENT flavour. One new series, in fact, begins in this issue.
Ludgatc Circus Buildings. London . Military modelling, by C. O. Ellis, is intended to
EC4 . cover another modelling aspect previously not dealt
Telephone : LUDgate Circus 8222 with at great length in our columns.
C IRCULATION DEPARTMENT We have hesitated, in making our future editorial
Surridgc Dawson & Co Ltd , plans, to alter too radically the present successful
136/ 142 New Kent Road ,
London, SEt. contents of the magazi ne. Instead, we prefer to pre-
Telephone : ROOney 5480 serve this flavour and add, rather than substitute, new
articles. Onc of our regular features, Picture page, is,
however, being discontinued . Although of interest,
Contents we felt it held insufficient practical value. But we shall
News from Airfix ... 68 st ill be pleased to consider readers' pictures for
In the air - Alan Hall 70 publication, as space permits, elsewhere in the
Picture page ... 73 magazine.
Plastic modellin g Mike With our bigger and better issues, we have been
BryQm ... ._, 74
Layout realism - Alex BOH'ie . . 76 forced to raise the sell ing price to Is 6d per copy.
Military modelling - C. O. This has been brought about principally by the
El/is ... .. ... 78 increase in size, and also by the fact that printing
On road and track - DarryJ and editorial costs have repeatedly risen since our
Reach ... ... 80 first issue appeared over three years ago. However,
Profi lc - M.l. F. Bow)'t'r ... 82 we are sure that readers will find that the new
Railway review - Norman magazine is even better value at the increased price.
Simlllolls ... 86
Whcclspin - Ben Lmllki" 88 We also hope that, through reading it. they will
New kits and models... 90 conti nue to derive more pleasure from their
Readers write ... 94 absorbing hobby.

Cover picture
A Wes( Germall Air Force Fiat G·9 IT, two-sear trab,er versiofl of NATO's srrike jighter.
/lies below the summit of lite migltty Matterhol'll. The Airjix kit of the standard G·91 provides
rite basis for a simple cOl/version to this later I'ariant of a versatile aircraft.
67
 NEWS FROM AIRFIX
Prairie tank, human skeleton
and US Marines set
AILWAY modellers have been
R eagerly awaiti ng the release b}1
Ai rfix of another OD / HO sca le loco-
mo tive. Latest to appear is (h e I>rairie
2-6-2 ta nk which , form erl y in the Kit -
ma ste r range , has now a ppeared under
th e Airfix labe l, selling for 45 6d . The
kit is co lourfully boxed, com pl ete with
cement and transfers, a nd th e we ll-illus-
trated inst ructions give fu ll painting
detai ls. Ma ny of the 65 parIs a rc num -
bered, fo r easy identificatioll.
Car eful assemb ly results in a replica
on wh ich the wheels rotate, together
with the driving gear , in first-class lrue-
to-prototype manner. The former coup-
lings have been re placed on this model
by the standa rd Airfix ' Buckcye' a uto -
matic type, wh ich a re moulded o n to th e
front a nd rear pon y trucks. Airfi x co up-
lings are, o f co urse, based on th e X2F
type, as standa rdised by the National
Mode l Ra ilroad Association . Dummy
non-working three-link couplings a re
a lso suppli ed , a nd can be fitted into
slots in the front and rca r buffer beams,
if they arc preferred to th e working
a uto ma ti c co up lings.
.....
No provision is made for motorising
the Pra irie , but va ri o lls sllccessful
methods have been devised in th e past
for Kitmaster models, and ca n be
~
The world's ,reotelt yalue In constr uction kIts
equall y a ppli ed to th is Airfix model.
T he Ro mfo rd dri ving whee l conve rsion
kit No 7, reviewed in the August 1962
iss ue of AIRFtX MAGAZ INE, could form
th e basis o f a successfu l motoris in g
atte mpt.
Prairi e 2-6-2 ta nk locomotives were
introduced by the G reat Western Rai l-
way in 1931 for suburban passenger
and mixed traffic duties in the London
a rea . They weigh 78 tons a nd ha ve a
tracti ve effort of 27,340 po unds. The
6 100 cla ss locos have pro ved both s uc-
cessful and relia bl e a nd a rc a llocated to
depo ts betwee n Lo ndon and Oxfo rd .
Hare bones
Do yo u know where 10 find the
hum erus , the femur , the patella or the
pha langes? If YO II don 't, the Quickest
way to lea rn is by assembling o ne of
the new Airfix plastic construct io n kit s
o f the human ske leton . Priced a t 4s 6d .
it comprises 46 sca le parIS, in while
pla stic, whi ch assemble into a 12 inch
lall repli ca of the huma n frame .
The clea r a nd easy-to-fo ll ow inst ruc-
tio n sheet names a ll the ma jo r bones,
whil e a separate secti on descr ibes their
runcti o n. When assembled , the modcrs
a rm and leg joints wo rk rea li stically.
while the hea d ca n be turned a nd the
ja w rai sed and lowered. Thu s, true-to- Nassau , in the Bahamas, in 1776. Their
life mo vements can be ea sily si mulated . emb lem- a Western Hemisphere, super-
The comp leted mode l can be di s- imposed on a folded anchor and sur-
pla yed by hanging it fro m a transpa rent mounted by a spread eagle--ca ps the
wall plaque provided with the kit. motto Semper Fidelis (a lwa ys faithful).
SlUdents and first-aid pupils wi ll find In wo rld war two, they d id va li ant
the model o f va lu e in their work . whi le service at Guadaleanal. Bougai nvi ll c,
it will a lso appea l to modell ers keen 10 Eniwetok , Guam , Iwo Jima and Ok in-
make so mething (or someone!) a little awa . and morc recently we re involved
ou l of the ord inary. The kit is packed in the Korean campaign ,
in an attracti ve box . and is s upplied
comp lete wit h a tube of cement.
l\1inialUrc Marines •
Latest add it ion to the growing Airfix
ra nge of HO and 00 sca le military
fi!!urcs is a company of 46 US Marines.
se llin g for 15. The set includes officers
and grenade throwers , a n assa ult boai ,
Ma rines using rines. bai'Ookas , name
throwers and carbines. and figures in -
jured in battle. The figures are all
c\ tremely well detailed. and are formed
in unbrea kab le hard-wearing plastic.
Among the toughest fight ers in the
world. the US Marines. form ed in 177 5.
h:' ''e se rved in every major action (300
in all) si nce their first battle against
Abo ve: New 00 / HO ,1'cI/le US /l'/a r;lIes
(The box doe,,, lIot ill chule til e th ree-
l)ellllY bit, "sed "ere as a g llide 10 size!)
Lc[t : This OO / H O scale Prairie tank loco
,I'ells for 4s 6d. Ri gh t : Til e skeletoll kit,
compared 1I";lh fil e fllll- ,\';ze versioll,
 IN THE

BY AlAN W . HAll
O great was its importa nce and so
S magnifi cent the di splay at the Paris
Air Show this year that I sce no rea.son
why anyone could possibl y afford 10 mi ss
thi s bienni al event. From the small est
light airc raft to the la rgest jet a irliner,
the exhibili o n a nd fl yi ng display, staged
by the world's lea din g aircraft manu fac-
turers, is the most magnificent and
breath -taking event in thi s year's avia ti on
ca lendar and onc which grows in impor-
tance eve ry time it is held . For the spol-
lers, it is the occasio n in which their
delight at seei ng so many new a nd inte r-
es tin g a ircra ft compare s only with the
di scove r y of gold in the Yukon!
Previous ly I have o nl y bee n a bl e 10
spend o nc day at the Sa lon. but thi s time
I was able to enjoy a full three-da y stay,
a nd yet l went away feeling tha t there Top to bottom : Olle of the largest heli-
was still much to be seen a nd mo re to be copters in th e show- the Super FrcJo n in
done. With at least 400 aircraft at Le prototyp e marking s. The Transall C I 60
Bou rget air port, and ma ny of these in has beet! ordered ill Quantity by th e
the flying di splay, it was no wonder tha t French and Gerlllall governm ents. A
Dassauft Mirage IV, ca pable of carrying
the French atomic weapon, streams ;ts
braking parachute 0 11 Imuling.
the program me bega n at nine in the
morning and was not concluded until well
aUer fi ve at ni ght. The advertised lunch
break of two ho urs didn' t seem 10 trouble
the exhi bitors, as fl ying just went o n and
on until one's mind reeled at the thought
of seeing any more.
The fl ying prog ramme itself was broken
up into severa l fairl y well defined parLIl.
In the morning the slower ai rcra ft , in-
cluding t he executive a nd spo rtin g types
a nd some of the transpo rts, showed their
paces, while the aftern oon wa s given
Left, fro m to p to bottom : Highligh t of
the show for many was the magnific ent
display pllt lip by the veteran P-47
TII/mderbo/t. Now equippe d with opera-
tional (m ti-submar;lIe illstrume nts, the
Breguet A tlmllic is seen here being pre-
pared for its part in the {lying display.
Hav;IIg been derived from an America n
IJrototyp e, the G erman -built Weser /
Sikorsky Skycran e carried a fu ll-size
lorry beneath it dur;'lg the display.
over, firstl y, to the ma ny helicopters on
display a nd the faster a nd more noisier
of th e participants. The seven air force
acroba ti c teams a lso gave their demon-
strati o ns la ter in the day on Sunday.
Each coun try pu t up their best The
Beagles from Britain, the Cessnas, Pipers
a nd Beechcraft from the USA. the Porto-
fino a nd Riviera from Ita ly a nd the
French Horizons, Jodels a nd Ra llyes.
Germany showed the latest line in Bol-
kows and Do rn iers. Switze rl a nd the
Turbo- Porter and Austria the Flamingo.
E..1c h lined up on the end of the runway
to give its show fo r about fi ve minutes
before the nex t aircraft took over. For
th ose of us gell ing a bi t 'long in the
tooth' th e high light was, wit hout doubt ,
the display of acrobatics by Glenn Bach.
Republi c's test pilot, in their P-4 7
Thunderbolt. The old aircra ft ha s been
refurbi shed in magnificent style, and ac-
cordin g to Glenll . with whom I had a
few wo rds afte r his po lished di splay. had
done ove r 200 hours fl yin g in Europe
a lone sin ce it came over here at the
beginn ing of June.
From the lunch break o nwa rds th e
helicopters held the fie ld. From the
diminutive Hughes 269 a nd Dornier 32
10 the extremely large a nd complex
Super Frelons, they cavorted around the
Le Bourget circuit like so many bees
after honey. O nc Bell U H- I Iroquois
eve n ca me so close that I thought it in-
tended to pick me up o n the way round
but , like so man y of it s kind . went into
a vertical climb just a few fe et away. The
This aerial picture captures (lie atmos-
phere 01 the static exhibits.
French Al ouette team of the Armee de
L'Nr, streamin g red and blue smoke, put
o n a delightful ten-minute 'ba llet' before
the President's tent which , although
allractive to the crowd stationed at a safe
dista nce, covered the photographers and
their equipment in at least two colours
of the rainbow.
The smoke having cleared, the largest
helicopter there. t he Weser / Sikorsky
Skycrane, showed just how a large lorry
suspended beneath it could beat both the
speed limit and the traffic jams which
was. I suppose, the on ly earthly object of
the hop, skip and jump show by the
members of the Bell Rocket Belt tea m
who hovered about at 50 feet saying
' Loo k, Mum . no hands'.
Th en came the turn of the larger trans-
port aircraft. The DH 125 and M ysterc 20
preceded this show by giving the latest
ideas of what the best-dressed executive
may be fl ying next yea r, and the Trident
and VC- IQ added much to British prestige
by convincin g ex hibitions of their capa-
bilities. From the French side, the highly
polished Super Caravell e, the Potez 840
and the Transall C 160 provided the con-
trast, and a Hercules showed the flag for
the USA.
Havin g compl eted half of the after-
noon's display, the time wa s now ripe
for the pride of the French Air Force,
the Mirage, to show how versati le and
useful a n a ircraft could be. Three of the
bomber Mark IVs, a lif E carryin g slo res,
a lllR reconn aissa nce ve rsion in its un -
usual ca moufl age, a two-seat HIB a nd a
sta ndard fil e took-off with a roar which
Continued 0 11 next page
 IN THE AIR-Continued
sent hands to ears, in an effort to lessen
the terrific noise. Ea ch one put up a
magnificent display that must have done
much to raise the Dassault compan y's
prestige with the many military missions.
There followed an individu al per-
formanc e by a SAAB Draken , which
heralded a particula rly accurate displa y
by a Swedish Air Force team using the
sa me mount on the Sunday. The Light-
ning TS seemed slow by compari son, but
I learnt later that this was due 1.0 rehea t
troubles and not to the shower o f spark s
which went up when his rear fu selage
scraped the runwa y on take-off.
From very fast to very slow, ca me an
almost verti ca l descent as the Bregu cl
941 dropped out of tbe sky, lik e an un -
gai nly elephant , 10 di sgorge three full y-
loaded jeeps in record time. Thi s fan -
tastic aircraft literally hovered its wa y A rare aircra/I, a Boehli! C - IOS transport
rQund the airfield to' prove, witheut ~ l'ersiOIl (top) 0/ Ihe 8 - 17 Fortre.~.\·, with (l
shadow of doubt , its designers ' claims longer nose allt! cabi" windollls. It is
for manoeuv erability . belie lied that lhis aircrall was converted
Whilst watching this displa y, the /rom the stalldard by the Sll'ede.~ aller
Belgian-cQnstruc ted F- ! 04 had Jeaped off it had force- Ionded ill their comltry
the runway and ca me screamin g b~ck to d uring the war. II now belongs 10 the
cut the Le BQurget grass at zerO' feet. Prellch Geophys ical Sociely ond is
close to' the speed of sound and upside stationed lit eriel! Sell lis. some 30 miks
down. It then follo.wed with an amazi ng north of Pari.I·. Another rare find af
series of acrQbati cs which ha d the crowd TOllsws -t e-Noble , sOl/rh-east 01 Paris,
enthralle d. O'nly 10 be equalled a few lI'as IMs Cafalillo. olle of 'he fe lll still
minutes later by the nO'ise and speed of lell /Tyiflg.
the US Navy Vigilant e and Phan tom 11 na me ly the Atl a nti c a nd Orion patrol
from the Sixth Fleet in the Med . a irc raft, both turbo-pr op powered and by
The Phantom a nd Vigilant e were fc l- a ll counts si milar in perform ance.
M ore
lcwed by Qther near-nav al parti cipants. naval e ffort , this lime fr om Brita in in the
form o f so me
The Breguct 941 hovers OI'er th e fI/l/u'ay lo w-level passes we ll -timed a nd exec uted
by a Bu cca neer, fini shed
before touching dowII 10 lalld ill almost the show. apart from the ma ssed Aypa st
ils own lellgth . COlllillu ed 011 page 93

72
 Above : This attrattive picture of diesel and steam at
Blaenau Ffestinio& (Nth) w;as b.ken by T. J. Ballance, of
Marino, Dublin, lnd wins him our picture olthe month
award. Left : D. A. Brewer, of London, SEtO, submitted
this shot of the liner Canberra in Kin, Geor,e V dry
dock at Southampton .

PICTURE

&/ow, left: This Airflx 1911 Rolls · Royte wu built and

photographed by H. J. Tilly, of Bournemouth. Below:
J. Oawe, of Leamington Spa. snapped this ratin,
hydropb.ne at South Cerney, Glos.

73
Plastic modelling
Over/read travellillg cralles
HE motorised dockyard crane which
T I described some time ago in AlRFIX
MAGAZINE crea ted a good deal of interest.
Fi nding a suitable site for it o n the
average layo ut might be difficult , unJess
you have room for a dock basin. An
overhead travelling crane, however, is
pe rhaps more versatile an d many goods
yards have them. They can also be used
Inside or outside a loco motive works, or
a large engi.neering facto ry. although
few modellers a re likely to want to
make such a detailed working model and
keep it o ut of sight!
Overhead cranes come in a wide
va riet y of shapes and sizes, so there is
really ve ry little difficult y in making onc
by adapting Airfix parts. Probably the
most useful kits for this sort of model
a re those for the travelling crane and
the signal ga ntry, although if a plate
girder gantry we re being modelled, the
turntable kit would provi de some useful
parts. It is also not necessary, of co urse,
to make your crane a remote-controUed
working model. It can be hand operated
from simple crank handles, o r even be
a non-working dummy.
But there is a n increasing demand for
working accessories for layouts and (as-
suming you a rc not prepared to buy
Cutaway drawing (left) of the crab--
showing details of hoist mechaflism-
mid simple hand traverse gear (right).
© t.
74
by Mike Bryant
them read y-made and pay pounds for
each one) you will find this mode l s ur-
prisingl y casy to make. Basic components
used in the model illustrated are two
kits each of the travelling crane and the
signal gantry, two Ripmax Orbit 105
motors, various Ripm ax gears, pulleys
and b rass s hatting a nd a six inch length
of eight or six BA screwed rod. If you
motorise the travelling mo tion , a further
motor and gearing will be necessary.
Tbe gantry
A word in general first about sizes. The
model in the pho togra phs has the widest
span yo u ca n get from the kits rnen-
tioned, but j[ your goods yard or factory
ca n use a bigger version the span of
the crane can be extended simply by
adding from additio nal signa l gantry
kits.
Each side beam consists of the two
longer lattice girders in the gantry kit,
cemented cnd to end, and the ends
are the two shorter girders. The two
catwa lks are glued on top along each
side girder- you have to remove the
ends of the two raised ribs on the ca t-
walk undersides to allow them to bed
do wn . The gantry supports at each cnd
a rc made up (rom the 'splayed' leg sides
of the travelling crane base (parts I and
3), separated by a section of the jib
(pa.r15 36 and 37). The wheel units, made
up as per the instructions for the travel-
COIlO ANCMOIlf:D
To 80TH eNDS
 ••
••

ling crane, are ccmented to the boil om t ransve rse screwed rod, with a capl ive
of the supports. Rea m o ut the axle holes nut in the crab draw ing the crab along
so that the whee ls rotate very free ly. when the rod is rolated . This gives a
The inner ga ntr y s upport side at one ni ce stead y moti o n, but you can drive
end has to havc a section cut away to the hand-worked version (sketched) by
lea ve room for an Orbit 105 motor to a motor through a worm drive if you
drive the trave rsing gear. wish. The speed will be a bit brisk.
The ' rails' fo r the 'crab' are lengths
of brass gea r shaftiog jouroaUed in holes Control cab in
in the plain oblong bases of the signal This is a simple structure cemented to
ga ntries (p..'lrts 9), glued in side the ends the underside of the gantry. Mine was
of the crane gantry with the rails It made out o[ cut down p..'lfts o f the
inches apart. Adjust the bases so that cra ne cabi n, with a flat Plast ikard roof
the lOpS of the rails come t inch below and floor. Remember that the main win-
the to p o[ the gantry platform. Before dows in such a cabi n [ace inwards to-
inserting the rails, solder an insulated wards the crane hook to give the crane
wire lead to each rail- they carry the driver a full view of his job. By careful
current to the crab motor [or hoisti ng siting, this cabi n could be made to
the hook. house the motor fo r the trave rsing
motion. if yo u object to it in the posi-
T he cnlb tion I ha ve used .
Thi s is a sim ple box made up of the Next month we shall show in detai l
top section of pariS 2 of the travelling how the various mechani sms work.
crane, each cut in two, topped b y a sec-
tion of the roof. part 3 1. Two ca bin Copyrig lll, Mik e Bryall(, 1963
backs, parts 23, are glued inside to form
the bea rings for the drum shaft. An
Orbit 105 motor, minus its metal fixing
plate , is sc rewed direct 10 one end of
the crab, usi ng the se lf-tapping screw
just removed . The crab travelling wheel
bea rin gs. part of the girder from two
spare whee l units (pa rts 47, 52, 53 or 58)
arc cemented to the crab sides. The
wheels are pairs of trave lling cra ne
wheels glued face to face, a ll ax le stubs
being cut otT and new axle holes be ing
drillcd in them . The new axles pass
right across the crab and the wheels arc
force-fitted on the axle ends.
T he 1ravers ing mo tio n
For a non -working crane this would. of
course, be omitted. For a hand-worked Top : The completed model bears a
vers ion. a simplified mechanism is striking likeness 10 this prototype (above)
sketched in the drawings. For an elec- made by Herbert Morris Ltd, 0/ Lough-
tric version, the best method is to use a borough, who supplied Ihe p;clUre,
7S
 - ·yu:·H ......
,-
.... c .. .,~· ~, .. C!
LA YOUT REALISM
HO UG H last month's layo ut was
T designed for those who like to speed
up operations, personally I like my oper·
alional work to be leisure ly, though I
am mo rc interested in construction than
in operation. It's a matter of taste, or
rather of pUlling onc's own interpreta·
tion on something wh icb is a lmost im·
possible to reproduce accurately.
Purely a matter of tastc. too, is the
type of layout onc bu ilds. Where there
isn't mu ch space, a ny a rguments over
the merits of one t ype compared with
a nother arc largely a waste of time.
Most perfectionists dislike the round-
the-houses layout on a single baseboard
o r breadboard. Yet it is easily one of the
most popula r with average modeUers,
beca use for most of them it is the onl y
feasible layout. Its disadvantages are
not so great that they can't be overcome,
though. and it's a pretty unimaginative
modeller who can't master most of them .
Accessibility
Quite a large number of people rcquire
a la yout to be used on the whole of onc
side of a room or garage. At first sight
a poinHo-po int would seem the ob -
vious solution , but if a chap doesn't
76
by Alex Bowie
like this type of layout, it's no use trying
to persuade him in its favour. And there
is this about it , a point-ta-point con-
fin ed to one side of a room doesn' t give
mu ch length of run , whereas the oval
gives almost doub le.
Now there a rc limits to the fe asi ble
wi dth of a big breadboard, if it is set
agai nst the wall. An ything much over
three feel can be a nui sance, for if the
train dera ils, or maintenance has 10 be
done, you need a very long arm.
To ove rcome the difficulties of a deep
base boa rd the re once was a fa shion fo r
having manholes in the middle , some-
times covered oYer with detac hab le
bui ldings. The ope rato r dived unde r the
layout and poked hi s head, and his
solde ring iron , thro ugh them . Apart
from their tendency to induce claustro-
ph obia, manho les arc not wholly satis-
factory, unless very large.
But if t he baseboard is kept down to
abo ut 40 inches in width, things a ren't
too bad, though major repairs might
have to be do ne with the whole base-
board moved away from the wall . 1 say
might , because many years ago one of
the American magazines showed a device
designed to help in la yout maintena nce.
Left : Th e layout split into two halves.
ellablillg Ihem to be drawlI a little
larger. No te 1"01 there are fairly com~
prehensive facilities. lor the use 01 one
stalioll only allows more numerous, and
longer, sidings alld oth er Irackll'ork .
Thi s is sketched here , at least what I
can remember of it. The idea was that
yo u laid on top, face downwards, wh ile
prodding a round.
Long and narrow
Now as to the la yout sketched this
month. observe that the curves will be
a strictly proprietary radius of about 15
inches, which will go comfo rta bl y on
a baseboard which is about 40 in ches
wide. Furthermore, a 1 5~ inch curve each
end o f tile board will o nl y take up two
feet six inches of baseboard length ,
and thi s leaves a more comfortable
amount of boa rd from which to build
a dece nt passenger stati o n and goods
yard . The whole la yout shown is just
over 15 feel long. It co uld be longer,
of course or, with some pruning , shorter.
But the essential thing is that we have
a nice long 'straight', plenty of scenic
wo rk , plus the desirable oval. For, make
no mistake about it . an oval is very,
ve ry, desirable for those that want it,
and I gel just a little tired of one-track-
minded enthusiasts who put forward the
view that it ca nnot be realistic. Unless
yO ll have an impossibl y large room ,
no la yout is basi ca ll y realistic, but al-
most every type can be faked up to
deceive the eye, provided that the
modeller uses his imagination intel-
ligenli y.
Thus, the long bu t narrow model
sketched this month follows th e .same
principles as that which won first prize
a t last year's hobby show, a nd it pleased
me to see that the shoTl radius curves,
w hich I've been pushing for so long, were
used so successfully. Have a close look
at the sketch . You will see that all
fa cilities are practi ca ll y co ncentrated on
10 o nc statio n.
Obviously, unless the room is ex-
ceptionall y long, there can't be a lot of
s pace for two statio ns. But as a matter
77
of fact, the idea of having a single
station only is becoming more popular,
on the basis that onc good statio n is
better than a couple of glo rified halts .
In this parti cular casc, yo u wi ll note
that a fairl y comprehensive goods ya rd is
possible, with extra sidings which
amount to a lmost a luxury in small la y-
outs. 1 don 't advocate crowdi ng these
s idings with rolling stock, for nothing
looks worse than a layout which looks
like a display shelf at the local model
sho p. But they give you the chance to
achieve some of the a uthentic spacious-
ness of the real thing. There is , too. a
factory sidi ng comi ng di screetly from
the back , and while we're at it, a. few
cxplanations abollt the back of the lay-
out won 't be amiss.
Disgu.ise-but don't hide
The track here is operational, but not
who ll y realistic because, after all, it is
ve ry near the front of the layouL So
its too-close effect is disguised with low
hedges and a few trees. These should
not obstruct the track , for accessibility
must be considered. They could be no
taller than carriage roof height , with a
few trees widel y spaced. Thus it will
sti ll be possible to watch the progress
of a train.
The buildings should be half or even
quarter relief. with the backs of them
showi ng, because sma ll backyards will
take less space than roads. To the right
o f the la you t you will see a road lead-
ing up the embankment to the over-
bridge, and to avoid it being unreali stic-
ally steep, it should wind in prototype
fa shion . There is a lso a footbridge to
break up the track curve still more.
As call be secn from Ihis layout plall,
the slatioll yard CO/I be nearly 12 feet
101lg. 011 a baseboard jllst over 15 feet.
Th e lacilities are: L- Ioco shed; LC-
loco coal; SC-signal cabin; C--ca/lJe
dock; CS-coal slaithes,' G-goods shed;
S- sJaliQfI building. Seclional proprie-
tary track could be used illstead 01
flexible. alld this would meoll slightly
longer sidjllgs. bllt more width between
tracks.

Milita ry mode lling
by C. o. ELLlS
Churchill
AVRE
EASY· TO·BUILD
AIRFIX CONVERSION
CHURC HILL tanks were adapted for
many spccial ised purposes during World
War 11 , and it is possible to reproduc e
many of these vehicles as conversions of
the basic Airfix kit. One of the most ubiqui-
tous Ch urchill va riants to serve with the
Allied armies in North West Europe in
1944-45 was the 'Armoured Vehicle. Royal
Engineers' (known, more sho rtly, as the
AVRE) wbich was operated by Amoure d
Engineer Brigade assault regiments.
The main difference between the AYRE
and the standard C hurchill tank was in the
provision of a main armame nt of a 12-inch
Petard mortar in place of the 75 mm gun.
This mortar fired a powerful 40 Ib spigot
78
bomb (nicknamed 'the fl ying dustbin') for
a distance of some 59 to 80 yards. The
special preserve of the AVRE was the
reduction of pill· boxes, anti· tank o bstacles,
machine ·gun nests, bastions and the like,
and as a heavy tractor for towing bridge
sectio ns on skids. Often AVREs worked in
conjunction with other specialised Royal
Engineers tanks, such as bridge-layers and
mine..clearers, to perform duties which,
although less glamoro us than those of the
'fighting tanks', were sometim es more
onerous and certainly just as importan t.
Convers io n of the Aimx Churchill lank
to an A VRE is an exceedingly simple task.
Before commen cing assembly, the dust
guards over thejroll' ho rns can be removed.
This is easily done by cutting round the
moulding Hnes, but care must be taken 110t
to cut into the axle holes for the front
sprocket wheels. In fact. this is an optional
modification, some Churchills runni ng wit h,
and some without, the dust guards.
Now make up the tank accordin g to the
instructions, except that the 75 mm gun
barrel should be cut 00', leaving a stump
of 2 mm on the breech block. The Petard
mortar ca n be made by cutting a piece of
plastic sprue (from the kit) 8 mm long and
cement ing it to the stump which remains of
the origina l gun barrel. A more reali stic
'hollow' effect might be achieved by binding
gum stri p around a 6 mm length o f plastic
sprue a nd trimmin g the resulting barrel
down to an overall length of 8 mm. And
there you have your basic AYRE . One such
The complete d Churchill A VRE model,
carryillg a jascille alld towing a demolition
sledge. Notice that the turret is trained 011
,he beam, in order 10 ciellr the jascine.
 This y;CW of the A VRE, w;th the fascine
remol'ed, shows the modificalions 10 the
front dust-guards, fhe arrangemellt of the
skids, mul lite Petard mortar. The 111'0 v-
shaped strops attached fro", alld rear are
joined above the turret with a wire hook to
hold the/ascille;1I POSilioll. 011 the right is a
demolition sledge made from scrap balsa.
vehicle bore the name CHEETAH and the
number T I72053/c.
One of the most common duties for the
AVRE was the carrying of faseines. These
are very large bundles of hazel or chestnut
wood which can be dropped into anti-tank
ditches or trenches, allowing tanks to cross.
The fa scines are lashed to the front deck of
the vehicle, forward of the turret, which is
trained abeam for this operation. The
A VRE approaches the ditch, the crew
releases the lashings and the fascines tumble
off the front of the vehicle into the ditch.
There appears to have been no hard and
fast rule about the size of .the fascines,
except that they should be Wider than the
tank. Some AVREs carried two o r three
slender ones, others carried just one fascine
of huge diameter. In model form, fascines
arc best made from bundles of bristles
bound with black thread and of varying
diameters from *-1 inch. An old stiff broom
will keep you supplied Wilh enough fascines
for a whole miniature armoured division!
Incidentally the <A:1.rrying of fascines wasn't
confined to AVREs. Jt would be quite in
order for a normal tank to act as a fascine
carrier, if operations made this necessary.
The o nly point to remember is the need to
train the turret abeam while the fascine is
on the front deck.
A sophisticated arrangement was fitted
10 many A VREs which allowed the fascine
10 be released whiJe under fire, without
el(posing any member of the crew. Portable
skids, sloping forwa rd, were fitted to the
front deck between the horns and a large
faseine was held in place by a four-legged
wire strop, which was attached to the four
corners of the upper deck. The 'cross' of
the d iagonal four-legged strop was, in fact,
a meta l release device which was situated
79
just above the turrei. A wire from this
release device was led through the cupola,
allowing the fascine to be released from
inside the turret. A model AVRE can be
so fitted , using strips of scrap plastic o n
the froOl deck to represen t the portable
skids and thread for the four·Jegged Si rap.
In model form this strop is best made as
two V-shaped sections. The legs of the froot
V are attached to the front of the skid and
the legs of the rear V are attached to the
towing lugs at the rear. A small wire hook
can then serve to join the two sections after
the faseine has been placed on the skids.
The length of the strops will, of course,
depend o n the diameter of your fascjne.
Although it is impossible to reproduce the
release device exactly in such a small scale,
this arrangement, with a wire hook, does
allow your model to drop its faseine. Two
un·named A VRE fascine carriers bore the
numbers T3237 1{ll and TI72622A.
Yet another appendage for the AYRE
was the special wooden sledge, used mainly
for carrying demolition materials. These
sledges were stoutly made, rather Jike
pontoons in appearance. I have no details
of the dimensions, nor am I sure that there
was any specia l reguJation size. However
they can be reproduced very easily in
miniature from scrap balsa or Plastikard,
using thick wire for the metal runners.
Construction takes the form of a box
35 mm by 16 mm by 20 mm, with a slightly
sloping front. Thread is used for the tnw
rope, and if a sma ll hook is made from fuse
wire the sledge can be unhooked from the
AVRE when required. The sledges were
towed 20 feet or more astern of the AVRE
from one of the towing Jugs; the wisdom of
this simple form of dispensable transport,
espcciallywhen towing explosives, is obvious.
For modellers skiUed with the paint
brush, the formation sign of the 79th
Armoured Division, in which the AV RE
served with distinction, was a black bull's
head- viewed head on- upon a yellow
shield. This should be of the same size and
worn in the same position as the red shield
transfers supplied in the Airfix kit.
ON ROAD AND TRACK by Darryl Reach
HE quick rise of the giant America n
T Fo rd Galaxies to the forefront of
Briti sh saloon car racing, to w hi ch we
referred last month , took a tumble on
Jul y 6 at Brands H atch . The second an-
nual Tntc rnational six-hour sa loon car
race, sponsored by The Motor, gave the
Jaguar 3.8s a chance to regai n their su-
premacy. if only temporaril y.
In practice for this importa nt race,
which co unts for poin ts towards the new
European touring car challe nge, the
Galaxies showed that they were a match
for the Coventry ca rs, over the twisting
2.65-m ilc Kent circuit- in the dry. But
as several thousand drenched racegoers
now know, most of the race was run
in a torrentia l downpour. A G alaxic is
a big handful on a dry circuit, so it was
hardl y surprising that the American cars
co uld not match the Jaguars under these
naut ical conditions.
After some pre-ra ce haggling over
their eligibilit y, three Galax ies started
the race, a nd finished in 6th, 8th and
22nd positions. The overall race winner
was the 3.8 Jagua r dri ven by Mike
Salmon a nd Peter Sutdiffe, fo ll owed by
the Ra y Salvadori / Dcnis Hulme 3.8
a nd the similar car of the German dri ·
vers Peter Lindner and Peter ocker,
who are real experLI1i at this class of
racing, having now won the six-hour
sa loo n ca r race a t Nurburgring three
times in succession. At the post-race ex -
am inatio n of the winn ing ca rs, howeve r,
80
the Sa lmo n/SutdifTe Jag uar was dis-
q ualified, fo r having bigger i.nlet valves
than were pe rmitted. and Roy Sa lva-
dori a nd Dcnis Hu lme declared official
winners.
Onc of the most startling things about
this yea r's race, which was run under
just about the worst poss ible condi -
tions, was that the officia l winner's aver-
age speed of 72.62 mph was only 2.75
mph slower than la st ycar's- when the
race was run under dry conditions. With-
o ut do ubt , this is due chiefl y to the
vastly improved performance of the
latest Dunl op SP an d R6 racing t}'rcs,
whi ch most competitors used. These
tyres also seem to put th e larger cars
at less of a disadvantage than formerl y
in the wet.
Had the Ga lax ies been ab le to use
these Dunlop tyres, they co uld well have
been more competiti ve. But they are
not ava ilab le in the e no rmo us size neces-
sa ry to fit these giant American ca rs.
Jack Scars and the Swedish ice-raci ng
champio n Bo L;ungfcldt, were to have
shared one of tbe Ga laxies, but their
car was withdrawn before the race and
they took over a Fo rd Cortina GT, wi th
which they finished in a most cred itable
third place overall, wo n their class a nd
First racing appeamltce of the new.
sleeker mOllocoquc BRM was at R eims
for the French GP. It is considerably
lighter ,hall the previous model.
Jim Clark is currently proving virtually re vealed the fir st o f their new mo no-
invincible witll the L ows 25. having 1\'011 coque cars, whi ch the cha mpio n (ried
the last three World Cham pionship o ut durin g practi ce , but did not use for
G rallds Prix. tmd hlls a commanding the race.
letld ill the title placings. The ca r made its first raci ng appea rance
at Reims. It is a much li ghter machine,
o f simila r design to the 'chassis- less'
took the im portant Index o f Price Lotus 25, a nd has a six-speed gea rbox.
awa rd. The other class winners were T om Basica ll y, few could den y that the 'old '
Tra na and Ca rl Skogh (Vol vo I 22S), BRM could not match the speed o f the
Jo hn Whitm ore a nd Padd y H opkirk Lo tus 25, particul arl y on the faster cir-
(Austin Mini Cooper S), a nd John AIey cuits. When the new ca r is fin a ll y 'sorted
a nd R auno A altonen (Austin M ini- o ut' it could be a different sto ry, though
Cooper). G raham will still have Jim C lark's
Bearin g in mind the adverse wea ther b rilli a nt driving to contend with!
under which the race was run, it was Obvi ously, given continued reliab ility,
surpnsmg that so man y as 28 cars sur- it is not diffi cult to predi ct that Jim
vived the marathon out o f 35 starters- Clark sta nds probabl y the best ch ance
a fittin g tribute to the rel iability o f of wrestin g the cro wn from Hill . But
modern famil y cars, and attributable in in moto r racing nothing is ever certain .
man y ways to lessons learnt from com- It's result s that count.
petiti on ex perience in just this type of
event. T raffic jam showlI here doesu·t belong
to Piccadilly Circus, it's th e first lap
Cbampionship takes shape sort-o lll fI( the start of the six-hour
Jim Cla rk a nd his Lotus 25 have so salooll car race (It Brands Hatch.
fa r thi s yea r proved an almos t invin c-
ible combi nation in the G ra nds Prix
counting t o~a rds the Drive rs' Wo rld
C hampi onshi p, and the works Lo tus
driver now has a co mfo rtable lea d in
the ti tle placi ngs. But for the fact that
he retired w hen leading at Monaco, he
would have won a ll fo ur qua lifiying races
so fa r held a t the time of writing, for
he won easil y the Belgia n GP at Spa,
the Du tch G P a t Za ndvoo rt a nd the
F rench G P at Reims.
O nc o f hi s chief ri vals, the present
wo rld champion, G ra ham Hill , has not
had such a fortunate season. He won
the openin g race at Monaco, retired at
Spa a nd Za ndvoort. and too k thi rd pl ace
at Reims. At Za ndvoort , th e BR M tea m
81

PROFILE
Hig h-fl ying
• some hair-ra ising structur al fa ilures .
conversions
for the Airf ix
Wel ling ton
H IGH fl yin g bo mbers a ttracted the
atlention of Britai n a nd G erma ny
in the early stages of Wo rld War Two,
when speciall y pre pa red aircraft became
ava ilab le. F or this exacting p urpose the
Luftwa ffc used converte d Ju 86s, while
the RAF looked to the F o rtress I and
to conversions of the Vick ers Wellin g-
to n, the subject of this month's P rofile.
Specifica ti on 8 23/39 had ca lled f or
a fas t medium bomber a ble to opera te
at 40,000 fect, and whose crew were
placed in a press urised ca bin, whi ch was
then a most revoluti ona ry feature .
Vicke rs- tendered a Wellington va riant,
the Vi ckc rs T ype 407, powered b y two
Bristo l Hcrcules VIU engines s peciall y
designed fo r hi gh a ltitude operati on,
a nd with a pressure cabi n fi tted into a
82
redes igned nose. Two prototypes of the
design we re o rdered when the war com-
menced , to be conversi ons o f the last
two aircraft fro m a ba tch of Mk l c,
R3275-3299, origina ll y o rdered as M erl in
X powered Mk lis.
Develop ment of the cylindrical pres-
sure ca bin fo r the aircraft resulted in
Delays o n the H ercules vu I occurred
a nd the engine required specia l trials,
fo r which purpose it was tested in oDe
o f the gawk y Fo lla nd 43/34 fl yin g test
beds. When the delay o n the engines
became a ppa rent, it was decided to fl y
the Welli ngton Mk V po wered by Her-
cu les J li s. This revision resulted in a
new designatio n for the prototype w hich
beca me T ype 421.
T his airc raft, R3298. fi rst fle w at
Blackpo ol o n Octo ber 2 1, 1940, wearin g
the sta nda rd ex perimen ta l aircraft
colo uri ng of brown-green-ye llow. Apart
fro m he r nose, in which, sli ghtl y a head
o f the ma inpiane, a long press urised
cyli nder was fitt ed, she resembled the
Wellin gton 111. T he cockpit cover was
now an ell ipti ca l shape o n the top of
th e fu selage. The bo mb aimer's pa nel
was placed in the base of the nose, aft
o f which a curvacio us slope gave a
strea mlined , sbark-lik e a ppea ra nce to
the aircraft. A crew of three had been
decided upon, compris ing a pilo t, wire-
R 3298, the [irst M k V, photographed in
1940.
R3298 ill protolype colours and fitted
will! GEe blowers. She "as a red serial
allll a circular cockpit cover here.
less ope rato r-naviga tor-bomb aimer a nd
a rear gunn er who relied upon a n in-
dependent oxyge n suppl y. Since the air-
cra ft had been designed to fl y high to
avoi d enem y fighters, the gunner, it was
hoped, would barel y be necessa r.r.
On March 1, 1940, 30 productI on Mk
Vs (T ype 426), to be powe red b y Her-
culcs VI li s, had been ordered to Specifi-
ca ti on B17/40 as W5795-5824 inclusive.
Such was officia l fa ith in the hi gh alti-
tude Wellingt on.
The seco nd T ype 407, R 3299, a p-
peared fitted with a circular cockpit
cove r resembling a n e nla rged astro-
dome , also a feature of W5796, the first
a nd . as it proved, onl y product ion Mk
V. Fo rwa rd view was much restricted,
and there was precio us little head room
for most pilots. The navigator sat to
the pilo t's right a nd faced the starboard
side of the aircraft. The cockpit instru-
men t layout was much modified .
Hi gh a ltitude trials proved disap-
poin tin g, for many difficulties were e n-
co unt ered. Controls fro ze up, al so the
rear turret and bomb doors. Even oil
froze. a nd there were icing problems in
a nd o utside the aircraft. A height of
30.000 feet wa s reached. During 1942
R3298 was fl own a t Vickers and the
AAEE. powered by He rcules XIs with
GEe blowers, a nd was in this form
83
designated T ype 436. As the T ype 440
she had Hercules Vi s temporaril y in -
sta lled , after which Hercules VII Is were
fitLed . R3299, with Hercules Vllls.
underwent engine trials at Filt on, and
was also tested a t the AAEE , Bos-
combe Dow n.
Official tri als with W5796 showed her
to have a top speed of 292 mpb a t
32,000 feet, and a cruising speed o f 233
mph . Her se rvice ce iling was 35,000
(eet which at the maximum take-off
weight of 32,000 Ib , she reached in 70
minutes. Her range with a 4,500 lb bo mb
load was 1,560 mi les, a nd the weapon
loa d could consist o f 2 x 2,000 lb bo mbs
or 4 of 1,000 Ib, 9 of 500 Ib, or 18 of
250 lb. Her wing spa n was 86 feet 2
in ches. length 62 feet 6 inches. Four-
bladed Rotol propellers were fitted , as
on the ot her hig h-altitude Wellington s.
On Jul y 19, 194 1, 100 Wellington Vs
were ordered to Specification 17/40,
whose se ri al numbers were to be
DR471-S04_ DR SI9-S49. DR S66-600.
These a ircra ft were, however, to be
powered by Rolls- Royce Me rlin 60
series engines. T ype No 431 was al-
loca ted to this variant, whi ch was re-
designated Mk VI. Co nversio n o f the
first pro ducti on Wellington V, \V5795,
to bring it to Mk VI standard had begun
in Mareh 194 1, and into this aircra ft
were installed two Me rlin RM6SM en-
gines . She first flew in the late summer
COl/til/ued Oil next page
 PROFILE- Col/tinue d
of 1941 and proceede d to Boscom bc
Down fo r trials o n Novemb er 6, 1941.
W5795 wore sta ndard prototype colou r-
ing, a nd had a ci rcul ar cockpit do me.
The f\ll k VI was clea rl y a n advance
over the V. and so work was switched
to this variant , the producti on version
of which was the Type 442. W5797, the
fi rst of these, flew at the e nd of 194 1,
and for a short time was used for
engine trials a t Huckna ll . Twe nty-seve n
o thers pla nned as Mk Vs- W5798-58 15
and DR471-479- wcre
subseq uentl y
com pl eted as Mk Vl a nd fitted with
Merlin 60 engi nes, production forms of
the RM 6SM . W5798 was the service
tria ls a ircraft and reached the AA EE in
February 1942. W5800, fi rst fl own in
March 1942, subsequ entl y beca me t.he
T ype 443 when she was fitted t empo ra~!l y
wi th six foot extcnsio ns to her Win g
tips in an attcmpt to improve her hi gh
a ltitude pe rfo rm ance. She was also used
fo r oxygen regula tor trials at the RAE,
where W5802 undertoo k high a ltitude
tests a imed at improvin g the workin gs
of control surfaces. She had bee n origin -
all y delive rcd to No 109 Squadro n at
Tem psford in March 1942, where she
had s pe nt a little over two mo nths.
DR480 a nd 484 were fi tted with Type
423 bo mb gea r, enab ling them to ca rry
a 4,000 bomb, fo r which reaSOn special
efforts had bee n made to li gh ten them
as far as possib::::.
84
Offi cia l perfo rma nce 1..::sts indi cated
that the .M k VI had a service ceiling
of 36,700 feet, a maxi mum speed of
300 mph at 32,000 fee t, crui sed at 265
mph at 30,000 feet, and carried the
sa me bomb loads as th e M k V.
Produ ction Vis had a rcvhed lowcr
nose conto ur to improve the bomb
a ime r's vicw, as is evident in the accom-
panyin g pho togra ph of DR484. Sl ight
modifica ti on was a lso made to the shape
of the cockpit cover fi tted to DR480 and
a ll subsequ cnt M k Vis.
T ype 449 was a fu rther variant of. the
VI for service as a specia l rad io lrall1C r,
DR48 1-483 bc ing specia ll y designatcd
Mk VIA for the purpose. The fi rst of
these scrved briefl y with 109 Sqn , the
other two had b rief li ves be rore crashing .
Stemmin g rrom the fo rmer ca me the
VIG opera ti ona l aircraft. of whi ch 24,
DR485-504 a nd DR 519-527, were com-
pleted ca rrying special rad io and radar
gear. Acco rdingly '/G' was a ppli ed after
the se ria l num be rs o[ man y o f these
a ircraft , includin g DR485 to 487, 489.
DR 528, the fi na l Mk Vi complc ted at
the end o f 1942. was a stand ard Ty pe 442.
O th er s ub ser"ies we re known in th e
Service such as V1B with engines o[ a
d i ffe re~t se ries a nd oth ers with d ifferent
interior layo uts. DR483, 485-489 , 49 1-493
J)R4 84, a protlllc/i olt M k VI with the
revi.{ed 1IOl'e COl/ tOllrs and tail turret
rem oved to Jig/li en her load. Site has a
RreY·Wl'ell-bl lle [illil'''.
a nd 494. a nd a ll subseq uent VI s, had
Merl in 62 engines. DR490 a nd 493 both
had a Merl in 60 a nd a 62.
Only four We ll ington VIs entered
squad ron service. W580 I was delivered
to No ] 09 Squadron at Tempsford on
March 23. 1942, and on the 26th W5802
a rrived there. No operational fl ying was
ca rried out , merely squadron trials.
W580 1 proceeded to No 18 MU on
Ju ly I , 1942, was redu ced to spa res a nd
fina ll y struc k of[ cha rge on August 11 ,
1943. W5802 was despatched to the
RAE on May 17 and late r became
5750 M. Her life was termin ated on
November 22. 1945. DR481. wh ich was
flrst deli vered to No 33 MU in Octo-
ber, 1942, went to No 109 Sqn o n Nov-
embe r 11 , 1942 and proceeded to 5 1 M U
on Janu ary 28, 1943. She was then
used to provide spares. OR485 /G , the
o ther machine used by 109 Sqn from
Dece mber 19, 1942. reached 5 1 M U
o n Janua ry 17, 1943, where she was
struck off cha rge on April 6, 1943.
Co nsideratio n had been given to the
use of thcse aircraft to carry ta rget in-
dica tor fla res for the Pathfinder Force,
whi ch fo rmed in August 1942, but the
pressure fuselage was found to lead
la complications. None of these Welling-
ton VIs was ever flown operationally.
During 1943 the Vis trickled from
se rvice, mOst having made their way
o nl y as far as 1\-1Us, widely scattered.
J\ la ny were eventua ll y des troyed at Cow-
Icy. and W58 16-5824. OR 529-549 a nd
D R566-600 had been cancelled lo ng ago.
Conversio n of th e Airfix Wellington
kit to ei ther Mk V or VI presents few
problems, sin ce t he wi ng a nd tail units
ca n be assembled as for the Mk lB.
Th e fu selage tri angular windows need
to be dispen sed with a nd , idea Jl y. re-
pl aced by a long strip of windows, a
fea tu re of the earl y ma rks of We lling-
tons. and also the V and VI.
C ut off the nose of the assembled
fuse lage, and replace it wi ih a wooden
block cut a nd shaped as in&::ated by
the diagram . On my OWn model I de-
cided against attempting to hollow o ut
t he block , fo r there seemed little point
in thi s. The transparent panels a nd cock·
pit cove r were merely placed over the
holes o r depress ions. To ensure that the
block fits tightl y. cut as indicated. The
'do uble bubble' effect o n the nose ter-
minates where the pressure cabin fits
into the upper section .
Remove the fo rward portions of the
engi ne nace lles as depicted and carve
wooden engine cowlings to th e shape
85
J
Depicted above is the /lose Shal)e of the
laJer M k V Is, with th e earlier shape
shown by th e doued li" e. The filial cock-
pit shape is also illdicllfed. T he cockpit
cover was slightly offset to the pOrt side
of III e fuselage top. Below is shown th e
outlill e of th e M erlin 60 engine cowling.
It COI L be easily tapered G il d shaped to
{it th e existing nacelle.
of the Merl in 60. These ca n easily be
fitted to the remain ing part of the nacelle.
Two spinners from a n Airfix Lancaster
would add a mo re professional finish to
the model. If you do t his remember
(b at four-b laded propellers were fitted
to these Well ingtons. If you prefer a
Mk V, then yo u will need to make new
engine cowlings and retain the o lder
shape of the un der portio n of the nose.
One of three ca mo uflage schemes
may be a pplied to the model. Pro totypes
we re finished in da rk green and dark
earth , a nd had ye llow undersurfaces.
Spin ners were black, roundels as sup-
plied with the kit suppleme nted by under-
win g roundels.
Most of the producti on VIs and the
solita ry V we re camouOaged in da rk
green a nd medium g rey and had
PR U blue sides and undersu rfaccs. As
with the 90 Squadron Fortresses,
some aircraft differed by having azure
blue undersurfaces. One I frequentl y
saw in Jul y a nd August 1942 fl ying from
Stradisha lL was a rich PRU blue over·
all. 1 ~ had red and blue roundels, where-
as those previously mentioned had the
standard type. On the o ne occasion I
saw the prod uctio n Mk V it had a grey-
gree n-blue fini sh, and red a nd blue
roundel s onl y!
M. J . F. Bowyer
 BY NORMAN SIMMONS
NEW passenger-carrying narrow
A ga uge rai lway is a rare event! I
have, however, received deta ils of a fa s-
cin ati ng little 18 inch sauge line tha t has
just been built in Devon. Known as the
Bicton Wood land Railway, it is situated
o n a private estate at East Budleigh, 2t
miles from Budlcigh Salterton and a bout
ha lf-way between Exmouth and Sid-
mouth . The private esta te, kn own as the
Bietcn Gardens, is open to the public,
from the week before Ea ster to the
middle of September, from 2 pm to 6
pm, except on Bank H o liday week-ends
when the limes are J I am to 6 pm.
Train s nm du ring these times.
The railway was conceived in 196 1 and
co mpleted in ti me to open the gardens to
the publi c this year. A very commendable
achievement. A fiDe little illustrated
book let ca lled 'The Bicton Woodland
Railway' tell s the full a_nd fa scinating
story. and is availab le pri ce I s 10d post
free from the A gent, R olle Estate Office,
Exmouth . Devon.
Basica lly, the track layout is a single
line with return loop, but it twists its
way a round th e gardens to give passen-
gers a n excellent view. The railway ha s
been designed to provide the best sceni c
views, and has necessitated seve ral quite
high embankments and gradients of
something over I in 30. The tota l journey
dista nce is just short of a mi le.
Currently, the sole locomotive is an
86
o il-fired 0·4-0 ta nk , with 8t inch x 12
inch cylinders a nd a bo iler pressure of
160 Ibs per sq in. It weighs ll f tons
fully laden. The engine was bui lt in 19 16
by the Avonside Engin e Compan y for
use in the Roya l Arsena l a t Woo lwich,
which accounts for the name 'Woo lwi ch'
bein g retained. It is hoped to add a
seco nd locomotive when a suitable one
can be loca ted and purchased. R ollin g
stock consists o f both open and closed
bogie passenger coaches and goods
ro lling stock, some with new 'home-built
timber bodies.
In contrast to o ther favourite ho liday
centres, so uth -west England has, until
now, been somewhat starved of narrow
ga uge railways. There is no doubt tha t
the Bicton Woodla nd Railway will be a
popu lar tourist attraction in this ho liday
centre o f Devon, and a mecca for narrow
ga uge railway enthusiasts.
New wagons (or Ford traffic
I menti oned last month see ing some new
four -whee led box vans fo r the F ord
Motor Co outside Ashford works.
Seve nt y-five of these wagons are being
introduced by the Eastern Region to
work a reg ular high-speed shuttle ser-
vice between Oagenham and the new
Ford factor y at Halewood, Li ve rpool.
T hey have been designed in conj unction
with Fords to ensu re qui ck loadin g and
un loading, and four sliding doors permit
access a lo ng the whole of the wago n prototype De lti c's m ileage. Mo re NE
side. Each wagon is 34 ft 8 in long, with Region D eltic locomoti ves will be na med
a m aximu m load oC 22 tons. and is late r in the yea r.
equ ipped with power brakes a nd roUer
beari ng axle boxes. Locom olive no les
A trai n leaves both the Ford factories Reported deli veries of new BR loco-
each night and arrives at its destination m otives a re: 01 020 Western Hero, 01 02 1
early next morning. thereby ensurin g a Weste rn Cavalier. DI 063 Wel·lem M Olli-
contin uous service and constant su pply tor. 0 1064 Western Regem, OJ 065
of wagons. The wagons are distinctivell. Western Consort. 0 1066 Westcm Prefect,
pai nted in blue, bea ring the Fo rd moti • D6824-8, 32. 37-49, 59. D7082-5 to the
a nd are an excellent example o f the new Western Region ; D 5 t 84, 5, 9 1-9. 0 5200-
ideas in fre ight train traffic as envisaged 5, E3082 to th e Lo nd on Mid land Regio n:
in the Seeching Report. 01 5 18-26 to the Eastern Regio n: a nd
0 85 16. 8, 20, 29-3 1 to the Sco tti sh
F urther ER acceleration' Region. •
Eastern Region summer accelerations re- T he Weste rn Region list two former
ported in the June issue have been SR Pacifies , 34035 Shaftesbury a nd
f urther extended by the introduction of 34074 46 Squadron. as co ndemned durin g
a new ti metable on Ihe G rea t Eastern May. These a re the first SR Pacifics 10
li ne. T he C1aeto" service is now com - be reported as condemned. T he LM R
pletely electrified and the new trains flave withdrawn three m ore Corona tion
descri bed in the March issues arc now C lass Pacifics; 46221 Queell Elizabeth,
providin g a n excellent se rvice. Speeds of 46247 City 0/ L iverpool and 46252 C ity
between 80 and 90 mph arc comm on- 0/ Leicester. T he num be rs of fo rmer
place and, in fact . necessary 10 ma in ta in L N E R Pacifics arc now a lso co nsiderably
the schedule whi ch invo lves averages o f red uced and th ree more A4s withd rawn
67.82 m ph for the 13 miles between rece ntl y include 60015 Quicksil ver.
Witham and Colchester, and 67.06 mpb 600 18 Silver Liltk and 60022 Mallard.
between Sheofield and Che lmsfo rd . which has been withdraw n for prese rva -
D eltic mileages tion.
Considerable surprise was ex pressed in
some quarters wben it was learn t that the
prototype E nglish E lectric D eltic diesel-
electric locomot ive had been retired fo r
presenta ti on to the Sc ience Museum a ft er
only completing some 450,000 m iles . In
fairness to th is particu la r locomotive, it
m ust be poin ted Ollt that it was a proto-
type and its mission was accomplished
when it paved th e way fo r the produc-
ti on models that a re now doi ng exce llent
work on the Eastern , No rt h Eas tern a nd
Scottish R egions.
One of the produ ctio n D ei ties allo-
ca ted to the NE Regio n, 0 90 11, was
named The Royal Nort hum berland
F usiliers a t a cere mony held at Newcastle
Centra l Sta lion on M ay 28 and, at the
time, it was ann ounced that the loco-
motive had a lread y covered more tha n
2 10,000 m iles. This is pretty good going,
co nsiderin g it was on ly deli vered in
August 196 1, and it seems certai n that
0 90 11 at least will beat handsomely the

A bove, left: Picturesque woodland setting

0/ the BiclOlI Woodland R aihvay- dowlI
tra;1I sets down passengers at Pille J IIIlC-
(ioll. A bove, right : Line lip of the new
wagons specially built for Fo rd M otor
Co traflic. Ri ght : Close lip of the loco-
motive Woolwich 0/ the B W R .

WHEELS PIN
by Bert Lamkin
Rules and
regulations
for slot racing
ImiTniofaatppears that there is a certain amount
di scussion taking place in the
ure car racing world on rules and
regu latio ns. The o bject is. as I under·
stand it, to establish uniformity in run-
ning inte r-cl ub events. This is not such
a bad thing, as it can be very frustrat-
ing 10 have an e nt ry rejected througb
differing r ules. This b rings me to an
impo rta nt aspect, not yet mentioned in
these art icles, and that is running our
miniature races o n full -size practi ce. An
eve nt run on 'official' regulations, even
though modified , is more inte resting than
th ose which are conducted in somewhat
haphazard fashion .
In full s ize, the race programme is
compiled to include races for va ri o us
types of cars. In club meetings the scope
is, of course, wider than with Grands
Prix . So, from the miniature field , cars
should be selected to race aga inst each
other within a particul ar formula. In
other words one should not see 1950 GP
ca rs competing with 1960 Minis. If a Mini
with the equivalent of a 5-litre engine
appears, the 'sc rutineer' sho uld reject
it.
After acquiring a scrutinecr's 'ticket',
the car practises to obtain a starting
grid position. The procedure is, of
cou rse, th at the fastest ma n takes the
'pole' position- this is the inside posi-
ti on with rega rd to the first bend after
the start. This can be achieved on our
88
small ci rcu its by either timing w ith a
stop wa tch a given number of laps, or
by ba ll otin g. The grid positions a rc the n
determined by t be fastest. the nex t fas -
test, and so on through the fie ld.
With o ur ca rs lined up, the next thing
is to start them . There are various ways
of do in g thi s, from dad shoutin g 'go!' to
juni or st icking a pin into you. But a
be tter idea is to in corporate a proper
s igna l-cithe r a small light, o r a min ia-
tu re figure with a Union Jack . 1 prefer
the latter- he can be on a sma ll rostrum
a few scale yards beyond the start line.
The right arm can be actuated quite
ea sil y by remote co ntrol, either elec-
tricall y or mechanically. A point solen-
o id from the model railway mounted
in the base of the rostrum and wired
to a press button with a s uitable power
suppl y. or a length of Perio n take n from
the figure 's a rm through s uitably
positio ned guides to the actua l starter,
a re two suggested methods. Bearing in
mind that the cars start to move when
the flag has fallen-offi cia ll y it is held
aloft for five seconds-a ny creeping by
competito rs could be penali sed .
Havi ng started the event. o ne should
consider the fini sh. Again the use of a
definite s ignal is desirable. If yo u are
usi ng lights, with presumably green to
sta rt. the fini sh would be indicated b y
red. With regard to the small man on
the rostrum , depending on its actua l
positio n, the U ni on Jack could be re-
placed with a black and whi tc chequered
fla g. Otherwise, a second fi gure com-
plete with fl ag co uld be used , preferably
on the o pposite side of the t rack to the
sta rter. This will depend enti rely on the
posi tio n of the start line .
In actua l practice. a last lap board
is shown to the leade r. but as this wou ld
be rathe r small if to scale. a nd certainly
not seen by the ' hairy' ones, it is probably
best to forget it. If you favour the li gbt
system , then a yellow could be used for
the last lap.
Lap recording
In bctween the start and fini sh there
is the question of reco rding the laps.
This, again, can be ei ther manual or
electri ca l. If you have the rest of the
family interested. then a piece o f gra ph
paper and a pencil supplied to the lap
recorders will suffice. ]f more than two
ca rs are racing it is advisab le to have a
reco rder for each car.
Automatic lap recordin g ca n be
achieved in seve ral ways. One can buy
pu rely mechanical units to insert in the
circuit- they are usually fitted to a sec-
 ti on o f actual track and si mpl y replace
an ex istin g st rai ght. Opera tio n o f these
is by the passing car depressin g a Icver-
onc in cach slot. They arc fa irl y re liable,
o nce adjusted to the ca rs in use. If yo u
arc usin g yo ur own mak e of track, then
the mechani sm wil l need a little ada p-
t:ltin n.
The other met hod is electrica l, o r per-
ha ps I sho uld say elect ro-mechanical.
Instea d of the cars depressing a leve r,
they comp lete an e lectrical circuit. In
this case the reco rder is virtua ll y a relay,
the armature movements o f which ro-
ta lc a whee l in a series of steps--cach
step being a completed la p. Alth o ugh thi s
invo lves so me effo rt to prod uce. it is
prett y re li able in use, wi lh th c added
adva nt age o f the actua l reco rding dial
bei ng sited in the mos t s uitable posi-
ti on. I will deal in a s ubsequent a rticle
with an act ual system that has bee n
used.
": Iecfronic counter
A furth er method of la p record ing,
whi ch is possib ly the best and, ineident-
a ll y, th e most expe nsive, is electroni c.
Thi s was th e system used o n the la y-
o ut at the Racin g Ca r Show. In this
case. the p<'l ssin g car inte rrupts light fa ll -
in g on a cadmium cell. This !!ivcs maxi-
mum to lerance of th e ca r's size. weight
a nd s peed. Va rious refi nemen ts we re in-
co rpora ted, includin g thrce displa ys o f
ra ce positio ns an d a pre-determ ined
num be r o f la ps usi ng a no rlll al te le pho ne
type o f di alling, the last lap always in -
di ca ted app ropria te to the number of
laps raced. The race contro l panel was
a lso included , whi ch gave co mplete con -
trol over the circuit a nd co mpetitors
and proved very useful fo r dealing with
the 'clueless'. In view o f the fact that
thi s installation was built for a public
exh ibit ion, any attempt to introdu ce it
in to the avera ge house wou ld , I fee l,
be frau ght with difficult y.
- Reve rting to regulati ons, the se t I
used at the show mi ght be worth adopt-
ing. These were as follows: ( I) Grid
posi ti ons an d cars determ ined by ba ll o t.
(2) Each co mpetito r has four la ps in-
di vidual pract ice. (3) Ca rs onl y to be
handled b y Gircuit officials. (4) Any in -
terference by a competit or wit h anot he r
car o r controller means disq ua lification .
(5 ) Cars leav ing the cou rse will. if
ca using an obstructi on. be rcplaced after
ot he r ca rs have proceeded. (6) An y car
completel y inve rted wi ll be regarded as
havin g retired . (7) An y mecha ni ca l o r
electrica l fault during the first lap will
res ult in that race being restarted . (S)
89
The decision of the cle rk o f the co urse
is fin al.
Th e advice] gave a t drive rs' briefing
wa s to the effect that the ca r th at stayed
in the slo t wa s in variab ly the winner.
ve ry ab ly demonstrated by Wo rld Cha m-
pi on Gra ham Hill when he raced on
the show circuit.
If, on th e other ha nd, yo u prefe r to
just ba sh o n regardless, then good luck
to you. I fo und the good dri vers o n the
full size ci rcuits we re usua ll y the best
o n the mini ature track- a case of the
del icate to uch.
Most o f the commercia l controllers
a rc no t quite fine enough to give com-
plete co nt rol, compared with a full -sized
car's throttle. Only a porti on of the
trave l directl y affects the mo tor's revs,
a nd it is thi s factor tha t ca ll s fo r the
deli ca te touch. So make sure that th e
slide is free and moves very casily- a
gra phi te penci l will act as a lIseful lu br i-
ca nt. Another point o n contro llers is
that after continued use they get warm.
wh ich is in creased if held tightl y. If you
have a ve ry (ull progra mme o n h and
it is probab ly wo rthwhile having a spa re
set to plug in . With the above aspects
in mind , I h ope on e day to produce a
device giv in g a grea ter deg ree of co n-
t ro l- a nd I do n't mean a second guide
pin located at the rea r of the car!
At th is po int , and associa ted with the
fo regoin g. a suggestion could be made .
If you are ho ld ing a mini a ture Gra nd
Pri x over umpteen laps, you cou ld cha nge
drivers a nd co ntrollers a t a given dis-
tan ce. whic h could constitut e, in effe ct ,
a pit sto p. ca using some ra ther interest-
in g act ivit y in the opposite camp.
More I!lcing clubs
Kirkby: R . Yo un g, 29b Burnard C res-
ce nt . Northwood, Kirkby, Lancs.
SI, Lconards: K. A. Wh ite, 6 North
Stree t, St Leonards, S ussex.
T .. mworth: G . Renshaw. 17 Spcnscr
Close, Leyfields, Tamworth , Staffs.
Ashlon'- uudcr-Lyne: W. Gidman , 209
Ma rgaret Street, Ashton -under-Lyne.
Lan es.
BollOn: C. W. Ainswo rth , S4 G iln ow
Road. Bo lt on, La ncs.
London: I. Ol lvcrl. 61 Elg in Crescent .
London, WI I. .
Por tsmouth: H. Owen. IS I Albert
Road, Southsea, Hants.
Bournemouth: D. Nay lor, Flat I,
Maxwe ll Court , 279 C ha rminster Roa d,
Bo urnemo uth .
 New kits
and models
LATEST PRODUCTS
ON THE MARKET OF
INTEREST TO MODEllERS

required with this kit th a n wit h ot her

Monogram kits wc have received, but a
Custom Che"y convenient list of items requiring atten-
We were pleased 'lO receive a nother tion makes this job much easier and
Monogram car kit for review this month saves continu ed opening and closin g of
from BMW Model s, who have submitted pai nt pots and wiping o f brushes.
the '55 C hevrolet customising kit. It is One di sa ppointment with the kit is that
not q uite so sensationa l as the Duesen- the prominent chrome style lines along
bc rg reviewed la st month , but is up to the side oC the body are moulded with
the usual high Monogram sta ndard a nd the bodywork in 'Tea l Blue' plastic. They
in their consta nt I : 24 scale. T he finished thereFo re need picki ng out in silver paint,
model mea sures eight inches lo ng, a nd which is a very poor substitut e fo r
costs 23s 4d. chrome and soon wears off. T'hi s is
The main body parts are moulded in emphasised by the sparkle of the front
'Teal Blue' plastic, with chassis, engi ne and rear bumpers, and ot her bright
a nd body interior in cream , and head- chrome parts suppli ed in the kit. It would
lamp lenses, windscreens, etc, in clea r surely have been a simple matter to
plastic. The wonderfu lly illustrated eight- mould these lines in chome plastic, to
page in struction book let makes every-
th ing crysta l clear, wit h a ll the stages
in the co nstruction illustrated by act ual
photographs. Every part fits perfectly,
and there was never a ny difficu lty in
making the model.
I chose to mak e the stock version , as
reade rs a re better able to judge the
accuracy o[ a finished model [rom a
photograph o[ a familiar sta ndard pro-
du ctio n car. The stock car can be fi ni shed
as a hard top o r a hood-down con-
vertible. Additional custo mising parts in-
clude choice o[ a continenta l type roo(,
or a fully glazed clear plastic bubble
roof, racing type bucket sea ts and sea t
bells, wheel spats. a ltern ative chrome
grills a nd wheel discs, etc. The engine
ca n also be souped up wit h six carbs if
requircd , and there is a TV set for back-
sca t viewers.
Const ruction fo ll ows the orthodox
method , wit h se parate chassis contai nin g
detailed repli ca of engine. front and rca r
suspension a nd excellent rubber-tyred
wheels 'that revolve freely. T he one-piece
bodywork is cemented to the chassis,
but the engin e can be viewed by a lift -up Mon ograll/ 1955 Chcvrolet (top) am/their
bonnet cover. Ra th er more pa intin g is Gf/III/mall F6F-5 Hellcat .
90
cement to the bodyside du ri ng constru c-
tio n.
O ne genera l poinl. not relatcd 10 thi s
kit in parlicul<;lr but to all pla sti c ca r
kits in genera l. When arc we goi ng to
have ope nin g doors a nd boot lids? The
die-cast miniature ca r people a re streelS
a head in this respect, and it would surel y
be easier to provide these facilities in the
larger sca le plast ic model kit. Wh at
about it , plastic ca r kit firms , and how
do all you modellers feel about it ? N .S.

Trio or twins
We ha ve a lso receivcd three o ther ITC
Mid get Model kits from BMW Models
thi s month . &1ch kit contain s in structi o ns
and parts to make two sepa rate pl astic
models, from 2t inches to 3t inches long.
They include one car kit , with parts to
make a Thunderbird and an MG Midget,
a nd two kits fo r models of old -time
horse-d rawn vehicles. The horse-drawn
vehicles arc quite the most successful
models and they are very attractive when
completed a nd pa inted . One kit , moulded
in white plastic, is for a four-wheeled
Surrey a nd a three-ho rse steam fire pump.
The second kit is moulded in dark brown
pla sti c and is for a Prairie Schooner
cove red wagon and a Wells Fargo stage
coach. The detail is fair for these small-
sca le models, and co nstruction is straight-
forward from the inst ruct ion sheet.
I am afra id the ca r kits did not reall y
convince me, as they lack precision a nd
faithfulness of outline. They suffer in
compariso n with di e-cast miniature
models of about the sa me size that ca n Three two- part k its- all by ITC,
be bought ready-made and painted at
less cost. I ca n, however, recommend the ei ther a Navy o r Marines sq uadron. Th e
ho rse-drawn vehicles as attractive models plans and instruct ion s were equall y as
that a rc fun to ma ke a nd , when properly good as anything Mon ogra m havc yet
painted, quite reali stic to view. Each kit produced. a nd such things as rivet detai l,
costs Ss lid . N .S. undercarri age Icgs, armament and so o n
- which so frequently arc the ca use of
A('('ur.de Hellcat criti cism- have all been ca refull y con-
sidered by thc manufacturer,
The latest Mo nogram ki t to be added to In fact , there was only o ne thin g that
their already top-rate line of quarter- caused criticism, and tha t didn't co nce rn
sca le models is a Grumman F6F-5 Hell- the model. Looking a t th e box lid , I
cat. This 53-part model is we ll in the find that o ur Hellcat was ca lled the
way of be ing the best ye t, a nd ha s all 'F65-5' which . of course, could be a
the gimmi cks for t hose who want them , printers error, but which the modcl
with the va lue of be in g ext remely accu- maker is bound to spot at once, Price of
ratc in its presentation. this kit is 17s 6d, and supplies are ava il -
In making up the model I found ab le from BMW Models, Wimbledon .
no thing to complain about. There was no A .W.H .
'fl ash', all parts were a pe rfect fit a nd
the gi mm icks wo rked with the greatest Super Seven'
of case a nd did not deter from the A s plendid repl ica of the Lo tus Super
accuracy. Moulded in both blue and Seven has now jo ined the Lotus 18 a nd
black plastic. the aircraft has the added 22 models already ava ilable in the ra nge
adva nta ge of two sets of transfers for Continued 011 /l exl page
91
New kits a nd models- Continued eluding a rcverse loo p. They are exce lle nt
va lue at the pri ce.
of hand·built I : 24 scale models pro· Also released by Ho rn by-Dubl o is
dueed by Auto· Models Ltd, o f 70 Fins- their new Track Pack No I , co nsistin g
bury Pa vement, EC2. The Super 7 is o f ten full straight rails, six t straight
finely detailed . with a moulded resi n· rai ls, three t stra ight rails, onc right-
bonded glass fibre body, and has head - ha nd Si mplcc point, one left -ha nd Sim -
lights, windscreen , facia panel , tonnea u plcc point and two term inal con nectors.
cover, spare wheel and exhaust pipe This is an exce llent way to build up
among its allractive feature s. from the basic train set oval, and the
Th is somewhat specia li sed model is lca net enclosed in the pack gives three
ava ilable in four different colours, with suggested track formations that ca D be
ei th er fl ared or cycl e type front win gs, laid o ut. The complete pack, illustrated
and costs £6 6s. D .R. o n these pages, costs 45s. N .S.
New poin ts and pack T hree for one
As briefly mentioned last month , Jetex have recently rel eased a new 3· in . !
Ho rn by- Dublo have introduced a new gi ft pa ck, with which ca n be built three
r<lnge of inex pensive turnou ts kn own as sc parat e silhollette flying model aircraft
the Simplec. samples of which wc ha ve - the Dart. the Delta a nd th e D ia mond .
now been able to exa mine. Bot h left · Full assembl y in structio ns for the die cut
an d right-hand points are avai lable. printed balsa parts a re given o n the back
hand-operated , at 7s 9d each , and the y of the co lourful box, whi ch also co nta in s
arc. of course, to th e standard Hornby- two )etex 50c motors (intended to a ll ow
Du bio 16.5 mm track gauge. The tra ck for a quick 'cha nge over'), 20 fuel pellets,
base is moulded in slrong, dark brown and ope rating in structi o ns, together with
plastic, matching ex ist in g H ornby- Dublo colourful transfers fro m which 10 en-
track, a nd the through ru nning ra ils a rc ha nce the appe:1rance of the fini shed
drawn nickel silver. The switch blades models. This bumper pack sel ls for 2 1s,
a rc strong meta l casin gs a nd each bl ade a nd is especially suitable for beginners
is pivo ted at the frog cnd . Onl y the to this branch of m ode ll ing. D .R.
minimum amount of th e frog is cast in Six neW gill sets
pla stic, to give enough in sulatio n. and
'the remai nder is a meta l castin g. This Six ncw st urdil y-boxed Din ky T o ys gift
sho uld give long life and good current sets have recent ly been annou nced , each
collection . cove rin g a specia l gro up of vehicl es. Se t
The point s have a switch inco rporated
in the blades whi ch automat ica 1iy pro-
vides a n elect ri ca l circuit in the rails
a long whi ch the train will travel , pro-
vided of course that current is fed into
th e toe of the point a ll the time. The
acti on of tbe switch blade is positive and
the tiny sp rin g inco rpora ted in th e design
snaps the blades open and shut with
precision. The track base is co mmend·
ably free o f obstruct ion between th e
sleepers, and o nly two pairs o f sleepers
arc filled in solid. Despite this the track
base is stro ng and sho uld with stand co n-
siderab le handling. - ,
It is a pity the ope rating lever is
mounted in such a la rge base as thi s
does rest ri ct us.1.ge of the point . For in-
stance, points o f the sa me hand ca nnot
be con nected heel to toe , which is some -
times use ful when a rra nging a bank of
p..lra llel sidings. Two left-hand points or
two ri ght-ha nd points ma ke a tra iling or
facing crossover, respecti vely, with the
standard H ornby· Dubl o s pacing between
running rails. Eaeh point pack includes
full in structions fo r the use o f these ;·lom b)'. Dllb/~ Track Pack No I (lO p)
points and correct two-rai l wiring, in - {lnd A ulo~M odels L o tll ~ Super Se l·ell .
92

Top 10 bott om : Jetex 3-ill- 1 gill pack;
MlIfchbox fire Sll1liOll ; (lIId Olle of the
lIew Dill ky T oys gift sels-'Mayfair' .
No I, known as the Goodwood sports
car gift sel , comp ri ses an Austin Healey
Sprite, a n MGB, a n E-type Jag uar, a
Porsche co u~ and nine miniature figures.
The price is 22s I Id .
The five o ther sets are as fo ll ows: No
2 (To uri ng), with a four-berth carava n, a
Ra mbler sta tion wagon , a 3.4 Jaguar.
AA mo tor cycle patro l, Atla s bus and a
Hea ley s ports boat o n tra iler (price
25s I Id). No 3 ( Mayfair), with a Jagua r
Mark 10, Ro lls-Roycc Silver Wraith ,
Mcrccdes- Benz 220SE , Bentley Se ri es S
co upe, RolI s- Royce Pha ntom V, Austin
7 Count ryman . a nd fo ur civilian figures
(pri ce 35s li d). No 4 (Emergency se r-
vices), wit h a se t o f petro l pump
att enda nts, a se l of fire stati on personnel,
93
a n America n poli ce ca r, a Superi or
Criterion ambulance, a n a irport fire
tender (with flashing light) a nd a Superior
Criterion ambu lance (with flashing light)
- price 36s I Id. No 5 (Farm Equip-
ment), with a Masscy- Harris traclor.
Halesowen harvest lraile r, Massey- Harris
manure spreader, a disc harrow an d a
ha yrake (p rice 2 Is). No 6 (Site Building)
with a Muir Hill 2-WL loa der, a lorry-
mounted concrete mixer, a Blaw Kn ox
bulldozer, a Muir- Hill dump truck a nd
a n Auclid rea r dump truck (price
57s I Id). O ne of these new sels is illus-
trated this month . D.R.
Car for the job
New Matchbox model s this month are
a fire sta tio n a nd a firc ch ief car. The
00 scale fire station is mode ll ed in tou gh
plasti c with wo rkin g do uble doo rs, fire-
man's pole and a uthentic multi-coloured
transfers. It comcs fu ll y assembled a nd
measu res 9 inches by 6t inches by 4
inches. T he price is 10s 6d.
Ready for actio n with the new fire
station is the 00 sca le fire chi ef car,
which has windows, sea ts, steering
wheel. imitati o n a larm 'flasher' on the
Is 9d.
2.
roof and cor rect 'fi re ch icP tran sfers.
The model is inches lo ng and costs
D .R.
IN THE AIR- Colltillued
by Mysteres and Etendards of the French
Air Force a nd Navy. T he latte r added
to thcir elcven-plane team by ha vin g a n
Etendard IVM a nd IVP doi ng the now
well-known 'budd y' rduellin g act, and
the Mysteres turned o n their SEPR rocket
boosters to disappear int o the gathering
haze in a vertica l climb.
1n di sc uss ing the ma ny a ircraft show n
al Le Bo urget, one ca n merely show h igh
delight from the spotter's point of view.
Never was there such a co llect ion. But
wha t of 1.he prospects fo r all of these
magnificent aircraft in th e world markets?
Personall y, I think their chances are very
small , as the need is nowhere as great
as all that . The prod uction lines need
q uan tity to make a break -even pri ce o n
the product. a nd it is o nl y in the light
a ircraft market where this ma y be done.
If nothin g e lse, thi s grand collection of
the best o f the internatio nal aircraft in-
dust ry showed , mo re tha n ever before.
the need to ra tionalise production and
back the engi nee rs by a s..'\ les tea m
capab le o f working without politi ca l
pressures, in a market willin g to 'lake the
best aircraft rather tha n th at whi ch suits
th e governm ent o f the da y.
 Readers write • •
Facts on the Fortress
1 read Mike Sowyer's Fortress ' Profile' in
the December 1962 issue of AlltFIX MAGA-
Z INE, and the selection of comments on
it in the February issue. The whole thing
has been very stimulating, but it cannot
be closed until some glaring mistakes are
corrected . To my knowledge these have
nOl been commented upon.
1 quo te : ' M any modifications were made
to the armament of the 8-1 7F to produce
the B-40 ... Twenty 8-17Fs were converted
to this type .. . Onc was 229743 of the
9 1st BG w ith LG T a n of its fuse lage
in sig nia . . .'
In actua l fact, Vega at Burbank modified
a batch of thirteen B-17F-JO-V Es, seriaUed
42-5732 lo 42-5744, to lhe YB-40 for
testing in combal. Originally a Bocing-built
Fortress had been converted to the X B-40
which had been tested in the United States:
All YB-40s were attached to the 92nd BG
although they did fly with o ther groups:
The aircraft did not fly operationally after
July 1943. Wi ll ia m Green says 20 aircraft
were converted to YBAOs, in FamOllS
Bombers, but Ray Wagner, author of
American Combat Planes, has stated in a
letter I received from him that there were
20 B- 17F-10-VEs, and the first seven were
not converted, which is in agreement with
my findings from other sources.
Even so, the 9 1st BG aircraft 42-29743
is so far removed in serial number from
those that I cannot see where Mr Bowyer's
information could have come fro m. My
only suggestion is that it was modified
in the field fo r purposes parallel to but
not connected with, the B-4O proje'ct. I
wo uld like to hear from Mr Bowyer about
this aircraft , a nd from any o ther readers
who would like to get in to uch with me
re this subject of mutua l interest.
STEPHEN P . BIRDSALL,
Sydney, Australia.
Mike 80wyer con/l1lenl:o,',' ' /1 is commonly
accepled Ihal Ihe inilial balch of 13 BAOs
represenled Ihe elllire produclioll batch,
althol/gh olher el'idellce exists 10 suggest
Ihal, while 20 were procured, 'he failings of
the type caused the remainder la be converled
back illlo 8- 17 Fs. These machines were all
taken from fh e ba/ch 42-5725 to 5744, which
were B-I7 F-IO-VE. The 92nd Bomb Group
was re-activated at Alcol/bllry ill April
1943, and 10 lhis uuit welll 12 8-4Os. They
were placed illto four /fighls. which sllbse-
quently operated wilh olher Groups, the
91st among them. The first operatioll ill
which the B-40s look part was 011 May 29,
94
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
L ETI'[ RS to the Editor can only be ans~'Ned in the
malj!a:t.in{'. How{'~'{'r, ~'e are al~'a)'s pleased to
rece ive your cumment5 and pictures, which will be
I
cunside red for publication. Reade rs ~-hose lellers
arc published each rect'ive It free Airfix kit of their
choi~. Submitted materia l and pictures can only be
returned if a~ompa nied by a stamp(.'tI addrf'Ssed
envelope, and the Editor cannot accept responsibility
for safe keeping of all Y sucb cuntributions, neither
does he necessari ly agree wilb comments c.xp ressed
by corrf'SpondenLS iu the letters colu mn.
1943. The D·4Os which I saw all wore the
same colouring as the B-17Fs, the laller
with the 92nd Group ill April 1943 including
229685 and 229689, which had a l1Iost
curiolls marking ullder their fin serials,
consisting of a white line IInderlininG the
digits and four white lines below at right
angles, markings carried by 1II0St of the J 7Fs
of the Group at the time.
' The 91st Group at Bassif1goouTII had
amongst its equipmem in September 1943,
229743 with the " A ill a trial/gle" fin
marking al/d usual codes, etc. What was
ullu.SlIal was that it was idelllical to Ihe B-4Os,
and was indeed referred to as such durillg a
visit I paid 10 the Group, alld recorded by
them as such. This machine was a B- 17F-70-
BO at birth, bm this designation had been
overpaillled 011 tlte nose.
'Many rumours hare circulated abom
heavily-armed D- J 7 Fs, but one that J did
observe · at close quarters which seems 10
hm'e escaped is a 8- I7F with a chin turret,
as 011 tlte 17G, and afurther cltilllllrret placed
011 what amounted to being a tray hnmed·
ialelyaft of tlte chin IlIrret. She also served
with the 92nd in the slimmer of 1943.
' /'m nOI prepared to accept your statemellt,
Mr Dirdsall, that Ihere were "some g laring
mistakes" in my article. You see, I gathered
the information at 'he time- first Itand! /t
could well be that 'he B-17 with the 9 1s1
to which / referred was brought lip to B-40
configuration, but that it was a 8-40 /')'e 1I0t
any doubt:
Top of the fonn
1 am a keen Airfix modelle r and a lready
my brother, who is on ly four years o ld .
ha s sta rted to fill hi s room with models.
M y mother also collects the Airfix range
of ga lleons, which are now displa yed on
the ma ntle picce. As for my sister, she has
so ma ny figures- a ll Airfix , of course-
that my mother has 10 put them into the
atti c {or sa fekce ps.
There aren't a ny model sho ps in Llan -
dyssul, whi ch is where I live, so that
every 'lime m y sisler goes to Ca rmarlhen
wilh a school pal she gets my 's ho pping' .
In school, at the cnd of term , we have
 model compe titi ons a nd a n Airfix model
nea rl y a lways takes the first , second and
third prize. A great favourite o f my
school friends is the Airfix Auster, which
has claimed a prize in the model com-
petition many a time, and will probabl y
be just as good this term .
My railway rolling stock comprises
nearly all Airfix models, and I don't
think J sha ll stop collectin g for yea rs, as
J am on ly J I yea rs old now.
DAvlD SELCON, Chepstow, Mo n.
Conversion kits
Whil e the idea of a co nversion kit would
undo ubtedl y a ppea l to a large number
of modellers who have no t the time or
skill to mak e new nose pieces, etc, for
a ircraft convers ions, there would prob-
abl y be a far grea ter number who would
be mos t a nn oyed at having 10 pay more
for a kit contai ning s pare wing sections,
nose cones and engine nacelles which
they had no intention of usi ng!
Perh aps Airfix co uld include in their
AIRFIX ABROAD
Well-k nown Sydney rel(lilers, Nock llIU'
Kirby Lld. ha lie deve/oped this per-
monCIIf A irfix section, cOllering kits. Befla
Bilda sets olld M otor Racing. The sectioT!
was slllrled ;1/ cOl/junction with the
Austrtl/ian Air League Week, lmd /IllS
since become a foca l poillt of all hobby
el/th usiasts ill Sydney . Th e num 0 11 lhe
rig/If of the picture is Bill Worl!iinglon,
Sales Promotion Officer of the Airfix
A IHtralial/ distributors, Ub erry Trading
Co Pty Ltd.
95
Ju 88 kit (whi ch I hope will be forth-
coming) a voucher enabl in g th e purchaser
o f the kit to obta in the Ju 88- 188-288-388,
etc, conversion kit a t a reduced price,
the sa me conversion kit be ing ava ilab le
a t the norma l pnce in shops.
Another thing which I think would be
well received is a set of pla stic gea r
wheels, worms, beve ls, etc. This would
surely have a wide a ppea l for mode llers
of a ll descriptions. The gears co uld be
used for making cra nes, working turn ·
tables, miniature gearboxes, motori sing
a ircraft, a nd wagon loads, 'to mention
only a few poss ible applications. These
gears would be best if mo ulded in that
soft plasti c that Airfi x so ldi ers, etc, are
made from.
R. WJ-lITM"R S ~I , Wirral, C hes.
Cur conversions
I am a keen modeller of modern cars
a nd have a few tips tha t I feel may be
useful 10 a nybod y interested in car
modelling. I have made a ll the mo dern
cars in your series (by the way, [ think
they're excellent!), a nd everyo ne of
them has been modified . For spare parts
I often turn to o ther Airfix kits. For in -
stance, on the 1930 Bentley there are
quite a few paris tha t a re useful. Starting
from front to back : two SU carb ure tlors
on the supercha rger- suitable for the
Mini or perhaps a hot Dauphine. The
stee rin g wheel (with the cen tre filed
down , the two littl e projections each side
of th e centre cut off, then the spokes
pa inted silver- with perhaps black dots
COl/tilll/ed Oil lIext page
 Readers wrile- col/lbwed and fitted. Fi nally, side lamps from the
M o rri s Cowlcy are fill ed to the lOps of
10 represe nt holes- a nd the rim brown)
the fro nt wi ngs a nd the horns a rc m oved
with a small part of the col umn filed lip o n to the ca r betwee n the head lamps.
down, loo ks very good in the Sprite and An extra lamp ca n be filted if desired on
the Ra pie r.
th e front dumb irons. And do n't [o rgc t
Next , the petro l cap. When this is cuI the two Oyscree ns!
o fI' the fu el la nk cover, it firs on th e
Sprite bes t, o r possibly the Rapier. Don 't J. R OIJERTS.
Burnham -on-Sea , So me rset.
put it o n the Dauphine, as thi s has an
internal fuel fi ller cap unde r the rear Merchant modelling
c nd with the e ngine. I have modelled the Airfix WtlrSI);(e and
Fi nall y, wc come 10 the hub·caps. Bismarck kits, a nd am delighted al the
These look very good if the normal ones way the parts fit together- with a little
arc to be leh off. Just glue them o n 10 ca re onc ca n make a superb m ode l. The
the reta ining nuts on the wheel s and they on ly trouble with these Navy kits is the
look rea ll y good. Thi s is made bette r if fact that there is no t a grea t d ea l of
the whee l is pai nted sil ver with black pain tin g or co lo uri ng to be d one- a part,
dots to resemb le holes. ma ybe, fro m the und e rwa ter part of the
A co nversion On the vintage Be ntley hull .
kit itse lf (wh ich I co nside r to be you r Is it not possible to JTlode l merchant
best o lder ca r- how abo ut a 1926 or 7 vessels, with so mu ch morc variety,
3t litre Le Mans model ?) is 10 c ut away shape, a nd colou r? Even the small 1.500-
the tarpaul in cove r from the back of the ton modc m coas ters have some beaut iful
scats, a nd the n to cut the ' lumpy' piece lines. a nd at a sca le simil ar >to that of
off at the cnd . Interior detail is then Ili.m/(/rck somc fine de tail coul d resu lt
added (such as a back sca t, fl oor, foot With pa ssenge r ca rgo liners ( Blue Funnel
peda ls, fire exti ng uisher, e lc). The bon- - with their o utsta nding design- Blue
net is the n cut o ut a nd t he front piece Star. ctc) the possi bilites of a fine me r-
o f the bonnet (the strength enin g bit) is c ha nt ship co llection wou ld result.
the n removed and stu ck a t the back of Is it beca use pl a ns are no t easy to come
the radiator shel l. An e ngin e is th en made to ha nd- or is the in itial planning or
tooling too involved ? I think . person·
a l1 y. tha t a merchant ship co llecti o n
ORDER FORM wou ld bring many more interested
modellers 10 the bench.
R. BRADSHAW . Ma nchester, IS.
To: AIRFlX MAGAZINE (AdYert Dept.)
Balancing problem
4 Ludgate Circus Buildings, Ludgate Circus, First ly, may I congratulate Airfix o n the
London, E.C.4. excelle nce of their English Electric Lightnin g
F IA kit , which is surely o ne o f their best
kits to date.
Please insen the following advertisement in The o nly fault to be found was in the
the neXl issue of AIRFIX MAGAZINE. J balancing of the model on its undercarriag'!,
and I hope the fo ll owi ng method [ have
enclose my remittance of " ...... s ...... ... d . used may prove useful to o lher modellers
(Sd . per word) confronted by thi s problem .
Following the instructions, I found that
lhe suggested packing of the nose cone with
Plasticine proved inadequate, a nd J was
faced with the pro blem of adding ext ra
weight to the nose, somehow, o f an almost
completed model.
I was able to solve this pro blem by re-
moving the nose, and nose probe, and
adding sufficient additiona l Plasticine
th rough a hole cut in the front o f the
fuselage. By keeping the ho le o f a smaller
diameter than the nose cone, I was able to
hide a ll traces of the 'operation' when the
nose was replaced and the model now
sta nds firmly, looking every bit as im-
prcssive as the original.
(I'LHMil! rRINT IN BLOCK. CAPITAl.S) R. I-I. B ISHOP, Weymo uth , Dorset.
96
 CLASSIFIED
ADVERTISEMENT
WAL"lTED BLUE-
A IRFIX M AGAZI NE No . 2. Wi ll pay 3/-.
R. Todd, " Pcgglcs", Cud ham Lane, Cud-
••
ham , Sevenoaks, Kent.

A IRI'IX BIND E R S
Wc have a limited number of
binders to accommodate 12 issues
of AIRF IX MAG AZ INE in its prese nt
size. ( Binde rs fo r the new size will
be avai lab le in the near future.)
PERFECT
Covered in black lea thcrclo th a nd
lettered in gilt. Price 15s post free
fro m AIRFIX MAGAZ INE. Ad ve rt ise-
ment Dept. 4 Ludga lc Circus
Buildings. EC4.

Send for your free cafalogue foday !

Revell (GB) Ltd , Maid stone House,
25-7 Berner s Street, London W .1.

Take out an ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION t o

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Due to the ever increasing demand some readers may find difficulty in
obtaining a regular copy of AIRFIx MAGAZINE. To avoid disappointment
these readers are advised to take out an annual SUbscription using the
fo rm below.

To: Subscriplion Dept., NRFLX MAGAZINE, SURR IDGE DAWSON & Co. LTD.,
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Please send AIRFlX MAG AZI NE 10 me each mOn/hlor one year commencing ""illl the
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S
Signed.
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 · .. even the c rane jibs move!
Th is Airfix 1j600th scale Bismarck also has
moving guns . .. is a perfect miniature of the
famous German battleship. 16t" long, 170-
part kit 6/-. It' s typical of the realism yo u get
witl1 Airfix models. T hey' re j ust like the real
thing! More than that, though, Airfix give
you constant sca le. so that the models of
every series are proportionately right; and a
great ever-increasing range-there are 11
se ries now, with over 150 kits. A t prices from
2/- t o 12/6, Airfix are great on value too.
For endless modelling fun-make it A irfix.

JUST LIKE CONSTANT SCALE

THE REAL THING! CONSTRUCTION KITS

From model and hobby shops, toy shops, and F. W. Woolworth

A truly remarkable
1/ 16 sule model of the
250 c,c. Ariel Super
Sports Arrow, with re-
vol"i", wheels and
steeri'" <4," Ion,. "7-
part kit, plus tnnsfers
and display stand, 2/.
ALSO NEW:
with

P rinted b y OXlE Y & SON (W ind $Or ) LTD. 4 HI GH STREH, WINDSOR