Thursday, 23 January 2014

Airfix Mark I

Ah, the good old Airfix Mark I. A surprisingly good kit despite its age. I did a couple of these to go with my Emhar Mark IVs as 'looks like' Mark IV males. Hardly a difficult conversion, I just left the steering wheel thingies off the back. I could have done a better job I suppose, but I really couldn't be bothered.

A pair of Mark I/IVs

A nice solid kit which really looks the part.

Plenty of raised detail and panel lines to take washes and drybrushing.

The vestigial steering equipment can be seen here.

Side by side with an Emhar Mark IV, the hull dimensions are almost identical.

A slightly odd photo angle, but I managed to assemble them so the turrets still rotate. Here seen with the guns pointing in different directions.
I enjoyed building these two, I think my original (and long departed) Mark 1 was originally purchased from Bovington when I was on holiday with my parents a very, very long time ago.

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3 comments:

  1. Abwehrschlacht23 January 2014 at 05:53

    Excellent work there, the old Airfix kit is terrific.

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  2. Pete.23 January 2014 at 14:56

    Really nice work Martin, I've a vague memory somewhere that the Airfix kit was based on the Bovington display tank that had incorrectly married a Mk II to the steering gear of a Mk I... if that's true it is more accurate to leave it off I guess.

    Cheers,

    Pete.

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  3. Martin Rapier24 January 2014 at 01:55

    Yes, I think a lot of the early Airfix kits were based on vehicles at Bovington (but clearly not the Tiger!). For its age it is still a really nice kit to put together and the parts fit very well, although the tracks are the usual pig of wierd rubber stuff. As they fit so tightly around the track guards I couldn't staple these so I heat welded the join with my ancient pyrogravure (for those unfamiliar with these obscure devices, a sort of soldering iron for plastic kits).

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