The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

This should keep the discussion thread ( http://www.uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=211; ) from being bogged down in photos.

The objective, at least initially, is to tag Contrail boxes and bags by our own defined packaging styles and use that to possibly develop a release sequence.

We'll figure out how to manage this as it grows (hint) ....

Here's mine .... alpha-ish within packaging "type" ....


Type 1 Package: Bagged with strong coloured header cards with white labels stuck on. Pink, orange, blue, green, and black colours were used.

none


Type 2 Package: Thin, not so sturdy white box with a hand drawn, printed label.

none


Type 3 Package: Bagged with header cards, this time with paler colours and a printed label, some with a picture.

Contrail 1/72 Blackburn Iris



Contrail 1/72 Saunders-Roe London II



Contrail 1/72 Boulton Paul Overstrand / Sidestrand



Contrail 1/72 Blackburn Perth



Contrail 1/72 Short S.19 Singapore III



Contrail 1/72 Supermarine Scapa



Contrail 1/72 Supermarine Southampton



Sutcliffe 1/72 Bristol Bombay



Sutcliffe 1/72 Handley Page Harrow




Type 4 Package: Sturdy brown corrugated cardboard box with a printed label with an outline drawing.

Contrail 1/72 Blackburn Blackburn





Contrail 1/72 Fairey IIIF



Contrail 1/72 Fairey Gordon



Contrail 1/72 Hawker Horsley



Contrail 1/72 Short Rangoon or Calcutta



Contrail 1/72 Blackburn Ripon and Baffin



Contrail 1/72 Short Sturgeon TT.2



Contrail 1/72 Vickers Vildebeest or Vernon



Contrail 1/72 Vickers Virginia-Victoria-Valentia




Type 4a Package: Type 4 but with an off-white box.

Contrail 1/72 Bristol Bombay



Contrail 1/72 Handley Page Hyderabad and Hinaidi



Contrail 1/72 Saunders-Roe S.36 Lerwick




Type 4b Package: Type 4 but with a less-sturdy white box.

Contrail Black Knight 1/24 SE.5a



Contrail 1/48 Vickers Vildebeest / Vincent



Contrail 1/72 Fairey Gordon / Seal



Contrail 1/72 Blackburn Iris III



Contrail 1/72 Blackburn Kangaroo RAF 1918



Contrail 1/72 Blackburn Kangaroo Commercial 1919-29



Contrail 1/72 Blackburn Perth




Type 5 Package: Bagged with a blue header card and outline drawing.

none


Other

Contrail 1/72 Vickers Vernon or Vimy Commercial Conversion

A fantastic contribution to the forum John!

Great addition to this thread . The two types not illustrated are the type 1 and the type 2 .

Very impressive collection.

And it just goes to show that, despite the arrival of many Czech short run kits over the last few years, there are still large gaps in the pre-war British aviation scene that have yet to be filled by injection moulded kits.

KIWI wrote:Great addition to this thread . The two types not illustrated are the type 1 and the type 2 .

So you are saying those I have placed under a Type 2 heading are not in fact Type 2? I went by the less sturdy white boxes, but I suppose those are not what you called "hand-drawn" labels.

@KIWI:

So these are yet another variant of Type 4, say Type 4b, "Like Type 4, but with a less sturdy white box" ??

If we can agree to that, then I'll amend our "type list" and re-order the pix above ....

Good stuff. Now am I the only Contrail owner ?

@Eric: No argument from me, and there's a lot more that others than Contrail did .... Maybe I should do a "Silver Wings" box art thread ...

Type 2 is a plain white thin (1mm) box , with a large hand drawn lable stuck on . I have seen the Hadrian and Horsa in this type , this was the second type used , so it was only on some early kits . The hand drawn lable has also appeared included in Type 1 bags , I have seen this with the Welkin . These hand drawn lables are in black on white paper , copied and presumably had to be glued onto the boxes as opposed to being stick lables .

I believe all the pictures show either Type 3 bagged with header cards or various Type 4 boxes .

This is the sole Contrail I own, a kit that screams 'build me' louder with every passing year.


David.

KIWI wrote:I believe all the pictures show either Type 3 bagged with header cards or various Type 4 boxes .

OK, then I'm going to modify out "Type" definition accordingly and re-arrange my pix to match.

Anyone picking up on theis topic from here on, don't be confused


PS: Thanks, David !

That boxed York is the complete kit and quite a late issue , as opposed to the earlier conversion kit . I think the Manchester was also issued as a complete kit but not the Privateer . I mention these because they seem to have been amongst the earliest kits Contrail looked at and were redone as time went on .

That is right and even though it is a late edition it has a number of issues, the yellowed canopy is due to age but the condition of the parts is not, the fuselage halves aren't even symetrical.

David.

Carmel J Attard did an article on his build on modelingmadness.com , might be worth a read .

Contrail 1/72 Fairey Hendon Mk.II



This is a later production kit with a 3-part (top, bottom, spar) wing rather than the 7-part one of the original. The instructions, however, are for the original but it's not a problem ....

I guess this must be a 4B as well then: