Airfix return to Scale ModelWorld

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

As we speed headlong towards the festive period and the end of yet another busy year, we currently find ourselves in a position where the vast majority of the 2022 new model development updates we have been bringing readers throughout the year have all been covered and the Airfix team are now fully focused on 2023. With that being the case, this situation presents our Workbench editor with the opportunity to be a little creative with blog subject matter and for the rest of the year, things are going to be just that little bit different. You can be assured that there will be no let-up in blog exclusives and interesting modelling content over the next few weeks, however, you can definitely look forward to a slightly different format and some more unusual subject matter throughout December. Please do remember that all published blogs for this and previous years can be accessed via our main Workbench hub and it is always interesting to look back at subjects past, to see how blog content has developed over the years.

For this first December 2022 edition of Workbench, we will be bringing readers a review of our recent return to the Scale ModelWorld show at Telford, looking mainly at the Airfix display, some of the many modelling highlights it included and the thinking behind its layout. Branching out from this a little further, we will also be looking at some of the other Airfix related activities which took place at this year's show, including the latest winner of the Airfix Trophy and the very first recipients of our ' SMW Display of the Year' award for a Scale ModelWorld show. It's destination Telford and modelling excellence all the way in the latest edition of your weekly Workbench blog.

A magnificent modelling occasion

Ready for modelling action, the Airfix stand at Scale ModelWorld 2022 had benefitted from a full assembly dry run in our Margate warehouse, as we were determined to put on a good show at Telford.

For many of the nation's modelling enthusiasts, they would not truly be able to put the challenges and restrictions of the past few years behind them until they had had the opportunity to attended the annual phenomenon which is the Scale ModelWorld show once more in all its glory and thankfully, that occasion took place over the weekend of 12th/13th November just past. Although the show did take place last year, it was a much smaller event than usual, with organisers, exhibitors and attendees all still feeling a little uneasy about arranging and attending an event of this magnitude following months of gathering restrictions, so even though the show was back, it was something of a reconnaissance event for a future full scale return. In what turned out to be a spectacular return to form, the great and the good of the modelling fraternity gathered once again in their masses at Telford's International Centre three weekends ago for a celebration of our hobby and the chance to catch up with friends and acquaintances old and new, and to admire a spectacular selection of model displays - Scale ModelWorld was back!

As one of the most important events of its kind to take place anywhere in the world, the annual Scale Modelworld show is an opportunity for our beloved hobby to celebrate its continuing state of rude health and always attracts thousands of visitors and exhibitors to spend some quality time in the company of like-minded and extremely knowledgeable enthusiasts. For those modellers linked to one of the many clubs, societies and special interest groups, the show is an opportunity to display the modelling works of art they have lovingly created over the past few months and maybe to even enter one or two of their creations in one of the fiercely contested competition categories, which are always of an impressively high standard. From a kit manufacturer's perspective, Scale ModelWorld not only allows us the opportunity to introduce our latest kits to the largest 'live' audience of the year, it also gives our designers the chance to discuss their latest projects with modelling enthusiasts and to find out which subjects are high on their 'wants lists' for future new tooling project consideration. It has to be said that SMW is a big deal all round!

From an Airfix brand perspective, this year's show would be particularly poignant for us as it would be the first time in three long years that our display stand and a full complement of team members would be in attendance at Scale ModelWorld and to say we were looking forward to the occasion would be quite the understatement. As many of you may know, we did send a skeleton crew to last year's much smaller event, but this was mainly in a content gathering capacity and to judge the entries contesting the Airfix Trophy in 2021. This year, we would be in Telford en masse and we couldn't wait. 

So good to be back, this was the scene early on Saturday morning, with just IPMS members having access to the display halls - they hadn't even let the public in at that point!

With regard to our actual display stand, we were clear from the outset that we wanted to do things a little differently this year, mainly due to the fact that it was going to be three long years since our previous display stand attendance, which was something we were keen to embrace. Most Scale ModelWorld attendees will be only too aware that in many of our previous show appearances, we have taken the opportunity to announce the existence of a new tooling project at the show, with the announcement itself attracting large crowds and becoming something of a show highlight for many, however, this was no ordinary year and we wanted to do things a little differently this time.

With our stunning new 1/24th scale Spitfire Mk.IXc on the cusp of its general market release and our beautiful Avro Anson only recently having taken its place on model shop display shelves, we didn't want to take the spotlight off these significant developments. In addition to this, with three years' worth of new tooling development and range additions not having had the opportunity to make their Scale ModelWorld debuts, our thinking was that a new tooling announcement would not be appropriate this year. What we did want to show this year was a spectacular display of built models covering the past couple of years of release activity, which included a flight of 1/24th scale Spitfires,  a brace of Avro Ansons and more Blackburn Buccaneers than you could fit on a Royal Navy carrier. For those who came to this year's show and enjoyed our model display, thank you very much for your kind comments, but for those Workbench readers who were otherwise engaged this year, please enjoy this photographic record of the Airfix display stand at Scale ModelWorld 2022.

Airfix models as far as the eye could see

Set up and ready for action, our stand included an impressive display of built models which had been designed and released over the past few years, with a nostalgic smattering of Airfix classics thrown in for good measure. 

With the Airfix team having made the decision to showcase releases from the past couple of years at this year's Scale ModelWorld show, thoughts immediately turned to how we could freshen up the look of the display presentation itself. Although it would be difficult to change the way you arrange any display of built models on a table layout, you could change how the stand itself was configured and as our stand presentation had remained unchanged for quite a number of previous shows, this is where we felt we could do things differently. We decided to push everything back towards the wall this year and to have all Airfix team members front and centre, ready to meet show attendees, rather than being positioned behind the physical barrier of the stand as in previous years. This change appeared to work extremely well and everything was much more relaxed as the team engaged with thousands of visitors over the show weekend. This change in layout also provided our designer Paramjit with an unexpected benefit, as it was a little easier for him to sneak off to spend hundreds of pounds on models and modelling supplies this year. Scale ModelWorld is like his Christmas and birthday weekend rolled into one!

From a stand recognition perspective, we knew we wouldn't have a problem here, not only because we would be situated in our usual position at the top end of Hall 1, but also because we were bringing the big guns this time, in the form of our large and impressive Spitfire artwork display banner, the one we first unveiled during our attendance at September's Battle of Britain Airshow at Duxford. This is a high quality double sided printed fabric cover which fits snugly over a bespoke aluminium frame and has been something of a revelation since its arrival, serving as the perfect call to action for any Airfix fan out for the day. It features the beautiful main box artwork produced in support of our 1/24th scale Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXc tooling project and looks absolutely spectacular at this size. Significantly, its stature helps anyone looking to find the location of the Airfix team at any event to see exactly where we are. Just another example of how Airfix and Spitfires continue to be inextricably linked.

As you might expect from our team of highly organised professionals, planning for this year's Scale ModelWorld show attendance was executed with almost military levels of precision and for the first time, actually saw the team undertaking a full scale display stand setup dry run in our Margate warehouse. This allowed the team to have the opportunity not only to see how the display would look to the public, but also to ensure that every last detail had been considered prior to arriving at the venue itself. This meticulous planning also extended to the placement of individual models on the display layout and crucially, where they should be located in the rigid plastic model carrying cases the team would be using, something which actually saved a great deal of time during both the setup and knock down processes. Everyone knew exactly what was going where and the part they would be playing over the weekend.

Our first group of show display images, starting at the left hand side with the Vintage Classics, taking in a trio of Katy Ambulances and ending at Buccaneer central. As you can see, Airfix fans were spoilt for choice when it came to appealing model displays at this year's show.

In fact, this system proved so successful that we didn't actually put the model displays out until the morning of the Saturday show, just to remove the possibility of accidental damage to models during Friday setup, when things are always a little hectic for everyone. As you can see, when it comes to Scale ModelWorld, it certainly pays to be organised.

Looking at the main display from left to right, the far left hand table was dominated by a beautifully built 1/24th scale Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.1 kit, the largest recent addition to our popular Vintage Classics range and a model which will have no doubt brought back many happy memories for those inspecting it. This was joined by an impressive selection of smaller Vintage Classic which have appeared in Workbench blogs over recent weeks, including the CAC Boomerang, DHC Beaver and eye catching Westland Whirlwind HAS.22 in its 'Admiral's Barge' colour scheme. This section of the display also featured built examples of recently released 1/35th scale Military Vehicle kits, including an attractive trio of Austin K2Y Ambulances wearing different schemes, which certainly received plenty of attention over show weekend.

Moving on to the next table, this was definitely a celebration of all things scale  Blackburn Buccaneer, as we had built examples of this classic Cold War British jet in both 1/48th and 1/72nd scales, in addition to various section builds and display boards onto which the kit frame components from the relatively recently introduced 1/48th scale kit were attached.

The central section of the display featured three anti-flash white finished V-Bombers and our new 1/48th scale Avro Anson Mk.I, a kit which attracted plenty of compliments over the show weekend - it is a bit of a looker!

The main central section of our display was a visual feast for Airfix fans and included many of the new model releases from over the past couple of years, but dominated by our trio of iconic British V-bombers, each one finished in striking anti-flash white. Their inclusion highlighted that fact that currently, all three of these impressive kits are available in an Airfix range for the very first time, quite a significant development from a modelling point of view. Keeping these kits company was a selection of 1/72nd scale fighters encompassing 70 years of flight technology, from the diminutive Grumman Wildcat, to the RAF's last Harriers in service, with Spitfires and Lightnings in-between.

The next two tables featured displays which included such delights as our Boeing B-17G 'Milk Wagon' and highly regarded Vickers Wellington kit, along with Mosquitos, Beauforts and a seriously impressive array of 1/48th scale kits, including my own personal favourite, the Canadair/North American Sabre. In the very centre of the display, the honour of taking this position of prominence went to a future Airfix classic and a kit which is already proving to be a massive hit with modellers all over the world, our new 1/48th scale Avro Anson Mk.I. With two beautifully built examples on display, we also included a partially constructed skeletal version of the kit, in addition to our display board which showcased all the component frames from this tooling, allowing visitors the opportunity to closely inspect the kit and to see how our Design Manager Matt managed to incorporate incredible levels of detail into this fabulous kit. The new Anson was definitely one of the reasons why we elected not to reveal a new tooling project at this years show and judging by all the attention it received over the weekend, this definitely proved to be the right call.

The right hand end of our display this year resembled something of a scale representation of the old Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory during the wartime years, as it was the area where we chose to showcase our newly tooled 1/24th scale Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX, a kit which was actually in UK factory production whilst this year's show was taking place. With four expertly finished Spitfires on display, wearing four of the five appealing scheme options included with the initial release from this kit, the display was made all the more impressive due to the massive Spitfire artwork backdrop which served as their backdrop and proved to be such a significant feature of the Airfix stand this year. With thousands of people now having received their Spitfire pre-orders, hopefully this will be the kit build project which will usher many modellers into 2023, a year which will see the nation marking the 85th anniversary of the Spitfire entering Royal Air Force squadron service. Add this to the fact that our latest scale representation of Britain's most famous fighting aeroplane has been designed and is being manufactured in Britain, then as far as we are concerned, this has most definitely been a Spitfire year for Airfix, something we are all extremely proud of.

As this was probably the kit that most people came to our display to see, it's about time we had a little Spitfire action. With four beautifully finished examples on display, in addition to partial builds and unpainted frame components to inspect, the stand was like the Castle Bromwich factory in miniature this year.

With Christmas just around the corner, our new breed of starter set kits will surely be finding their way into many a modeller's stockings this festive season.

The final model displays at this right hand end of the display included a selection of our new breed of starter set kits, which again included component frame boards, expertly built examples of each model kit and of course the box artwork which has always been such an iconic feature of any Airfix kit release over the years. These excellent little kits have such an important role to play in the future of both the Airfix brand and indeed the wider hobby and have definitely seen plenty of thought and team discussion going into their simplified design, whilst always remaining faithful to the subjects which inspired them. Whether you are a first time modeller or a seasoned campaigner, our new breed of starter set kits are definitely worthy of a closer look and bearing in mind the festivities which are just around the corner, will surely be finding their way into plenty of stockings before the year is out.

The final, rather significant model display we had on show this year were the two kit options which will be exclusively available to Airfix Club members throughout 2023, but we are not going to be covering these here, we will instead devote a future edition of Workbench to bringing you these particular details.

Although our attendance at any Scale ModelWorld show is the culmination of many months of hard work and preparation, the most important aspect for us will always be meeting the modelling public and having met so many people over the show weekend, the entire Airfix team would like to thank everyone who came along to look at our display stand this year and for the incredible support you continue to show the Airfix brand - we are all extremely grateful. 

Falklands 40 tribute lands 'Display of the day' award

A magnificent modelling tribute, members of the Harrier Special Interest Group produced a stunning Falklands War 40th anniversary display for this year's show.

For those of us who have been fortunate enough to attend a Scale ModelWorld show previously, we are only too aware of the modelling delights the show has to offer. The sheer number of displays to admire across the tree halls is almost bewildering and the standard of modelling excellence on display inspires and enthrals in equal measure. In fact, no matter how organised you are, it really is a challenge to see everything on display at the show and by the close of proceedings on Sunday afternoon, it can genuinely leave you physically exhausted.

Despite the fact that the Airfix team had plenty to keep us busy at this year's show, we were determined that we were going to award our first ever 'Display of the Day' award for a SMW show, just our small acknowledgement of the significant commitment shown by everyone building models, getting involved in group builds and planning their impressive displays for our viewing pleasure. We started presenting these awards at shows where a member of the social media and blog writing team were in attendance, however, as we all know, things changed quite dramatically during the spring of 2020 and we have not been in a position to attend many shows since that time. 

This year, with our new Brand Manager in position and with a full events team in attendance, we were excited to be in a position to find a worthy recipient of this rather distinctive trophy for the very first time at this important show, but despite our unbridled enthusiasm for the task ahead, how on earth would be able to choose a winner amongst this embarrassment of modelling riches? During the opening day of the show, members of the Airfix team spent time scouring the displays in the three exhibition halls, at the same time as securing content for future blog inclusion, for social media posts and fulfilling pre-arranged engagements. At various points during the day, we would have a quick team consultation as to whether we considered any displays worthy of inclusion on our 'possibles' list, before setting out to start the process all over again.

On Saturday evening, we had a more robust meeting to discuss our findings, with the intention being to send different members of the team to go and check some of the displays which had impressed so much, just to gauge their opinion.  Although no decisions had been made at that stage, it has to be said that there was a front runner, a display which was both topical and extensive and obviously the result of many hours of planning and concerted modelling effort by the group members concerned. Just to make sure we had the agreement of our entire team, other members went to enjoy the display during the first few hours of Sunday's show, but they came back with the same opinion. Our decision was unanimous and the winner of the first Airfix 'Display of the Day' award at a Scale ModelWorld show, which for the occasion was re-titled 'the Airfix SMW 2022 Display of the Year' award, was the hugely impressive layout produced by the Harrier Special Interest Group IPMS (UK).

Just look at the size of this display! The Harrier SIG's 'Harriers in the Roaring Forties' Falklands 40 tribute was a chronological modelling journey through the Sea Harrier/Harriers contribution to Operation Corporate and the liberation of the Falkland Islands. 

SIG Leader Nick Greenall modified this Airfix 1/24th scale Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.1 kit to represent the Sea Harrier FRS.1 flown by No.800 NAS pilot Lt Cdr Rod Frederiksen during the Falklands conflict. 

Having presented SIG Leader Nick Greenall with the trophy, we were given a more detailed overview of this impressive display, one which was entitled - 'Harriers in the Roaring Forties' Falklands 40 tribute - and what a tribute it was. We were under the impression that this was a large and impressive model display of various Harriers which played their part in Operation Corporate, but having spent time with Nick, we found out that it was much more than that. Starting from the left end of the display, the Harrier SIG had created a chronological display of the Harrier/Sea Harrier's involvement in the Falklands War, from the first aircraft to embark on the carriers Hermes and Invincible, to the Task Force returning back to British waters and the establishment of permanent air assets in defence of the liberated Falkland Islands.

The display included Sea Harrier/Harrier kits from several manufacturers and in various scales, but all intended to mark significant aircraft or those flown on particular sorties during the conflict, a stunning three dimensional visual representation of a conflict most of us remember from TV coverage or from the reference books produced since. Speaking to Nick about the display, he told us that the Harrier SIG has contributing members all over the world, all of whom stay in contact via e-mail, as a decision was made to let their website go last year. The idea for this display was circulated amongst the membership and whilst some of the models were already built, in order to tell the story Nick had in mind effectively, they were going to need upto another fifty models to be completed and with a build team of around 23 members, this was going to be quite a tall order. Each model was needed to tell a particular story in this impressive Falklands timeline and with the list of requirements circulated amongst the membership, individuals selected which model they wanted to build and everyone just got on with the matter at hand. In the end, the display featured 53 models, a magnificent effort from the entire group.

Interestingly, Nick told us that the display itself was just an ambitious idea he had in his head and at no time prior to this year’s show did the team have the opportunity to attempt a display dry run - the first time everyone got to see what they were working towards was when all the contributions arrived at Telford and the display was set up for real. Nick said that although he hoped it would be an impressive display and a credit to the group, it wasn't until he saw it all laid out that he could give his final assessment - it had definitely exceeded all his expectations. It was a proud moment for Nick and the entire Harrier SIG.

Harrier SIG Leader Nick Greenall accepting the Airfix 'Display of the Day' award from our Brand Manager Dale Luckhurst, the first time this award had been presented at a Scale ModelWorld show. 

Well done chaps, you deserve it!

The Finnish connection - SIG members Pietari and Perttu Karivalo made the trip to Scale ModelWorld this year and were delighted with the display award. They are pictured here with young Pietari's Sea Harrier on the left and his father's build on the right.

Nick told us that build contributions had come from all over the world and the SIG could boast members from across the British Isles, in addition to having members in Ireland, Norway, Finland, Australia and the US. The furthest contribution for this display had been sent by post from Texas, a Harrier GR3 built by former member of the US Air Force Brad Hoskin, and the kit produced by the youngest member of the group was the Airfix Sea Harrier FRS.1 built by twelve year old Pietari Karivalo from Finland. Nick was at pains to tell us that Pietari's Sea Harrier was definitely an Airfix kit, but he had labelled the information tag incorrectly - how could you Nick! Actually, Nick told us that one or two labelling errors were noted, but this was mainly down to the fact that this work was done at around 1am on the Friday (set up day) prior to the show, an understandable case of copy and paste minus test overwriting - oh the joys of Scale ModelWorld. Nick informed us that several members of the group had three or four models featured on the layout, but how Graham James deserves a special mention, as he had no fewer than FIVE model builds on display!

We didn't get the chance to meet Pietari and his father Perttu who had travelled over from Finland for the show, however, Nick did furnish us with a picture of the pair with the Airfix 'SMW 2022 Display of the Year' trophy looking rather pleased with the Group's success.

Although Nick and the rest of the Harrier Special Interest Group were delighted to receive their award from Airfix Brand Manager Dale Luckhurst, they did admit to being the recipients of another honour, something which was of even greater significance for them. After we had made the presentation on Sunday, the Group were visited by a former member of No.801 Naval Air Squadron's deck crew, a man who had served aboard HMS Invincible during the Falklands War. He told the team that in his opinion, this was the finest display he had ever seen in commemoration of the role Sea Harrier and RAF Harriers performed during the conflict. As far as Nick was concerned in his position as SIG Leader, this was very much mission accomplished.

We would like to thank Nick for spending the time to walk us through the Harrier SIG's impressive SMW 2022 display at the show and to congratulate the group once again on becoming the first Scale ModelWorld winners of our 'SMW Display of the Year' trophy. Your display was truly spectacular and we couldn't have picked more worthy winners. 

Recreating history in model form

Something to look forward to. This year's Airfix Trophy winning model was a modelling recreation of an unfortunate incident from 1946 - we will have the full story for you in next weeks' edition of Workbench.

We would like to end this Scale ModelWorld 2022 edition of Workbench by showing you this image of the stunning diorama created by Geoff Russell, winner of the Airfix Trophy at this year's show. A spectacular model which is a recreation of an event which took place on Angus Drive, South Ruislip on 19th December 1946, we will be looking more closely at this beautiful model, its creation and the incident which inspired the build in the next edition of Workbench.

We are afraid that’s it for another edition of Workbench, however, you can be sure we will be back again as usual, same time, same place, with plenty more Airfix project updates for your information and enjoyment next week. 

As ever, we are always keen to hear your views on all things Airfix and in particular, our Workbench blog, so if you would like to drop us a line, please use workbench@airfix.com for all correspondence. To re-visit any of the Airfix blogs produced over the past seven years, please head to our main Workbench hub and scroll through the available pages.
 
All our dedicated official social media sites can be accessed by clicking the respective link icons at the foot of this page, or by heading to the Airfix homepage. Other useful Airfix links are:

 
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram official sites

Airfix Workbench Forum

Main Workbench blog hub

Airfix website

Please join us for more Airfix updates next week and thank you for your continued support.

Airfix Workbench Team