Airfix 1/48 Supermarine Walrus Mk.1 New Tool

First impressions do count. Let us know what you think of your kits - new and old.
Post Reply
User avatar
iggie
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 23360
Joined: July 31st, 2013, 11:04 am
Location: North Somercotes, Lincolnshire
Contact:

Airfix 1/48 Supermarine Walrus Mk.1 New Tool

Post by iggie »

Reasonably hot off the presses, this is a quick look inside the box at the much awaited (and possibly surprising) new tool version of the Supermarine Walrus from our friends at Airfix.
Once you look past the glaring omission of moulding it in the wrong scale, first impressions are that it is going to make a lot of people very happy; it has all the ingredients to build up into a cracking model 'out of the box', and already the AM producers are churning out loads of extras to add to the fun!
The box (450mm x 250mm x 70mm; the same size as a few recent larger releases for ease of storage :grin: ) is the now normal Airfix sturdy glossy box, with a top opening seperate lid and inner tray. The contents fill the avialable space nicely, but without being crammed in, and with enough space to store a few AM goodies as well so you don't (like me :roll: :oops: ) forget you have them when you finally get around to building the kit!
The instructions are A4 and are again the normal Airfix 'colour' type, although now with a few parts picked out in green as well as the previous red. As ever, they look to be clearly laid out, with optional parts/fit identified well. There are two glossy A3 sheets which contain the painting guides for the three schemes provided, together with a rigging diagram for those intending to play cats cradle (go on, you know you want to..... :ha: ) and provide full rigging. The parts do not however appear to be drilled ready for rigging....
There is a nice set of decals, which appear to be to a very high standard, very very sharply printed and seemingly in register.
There are 5 frames of parts moulded in standard Airfix grey; from a reasonably careful look through, there does not appear to be any flash, sprue gates are mostly fairly small and there does not appear to be any short-shot parts. The fuselage interior does seem to have suffered from an attack of measles; there are a lot of ejector pin marks between the interior framing, which will take a while to fill and sand out I suspect. There is one further frame of clear parts; again no flash and the canopy glazing is nice and thin, clear and with well defined framing.
I cannot see any reason at all why even a novice builder shouldn't get a decent result out of this kit, even taking into account the (with certain other biplane kits....) need to set two main wing assemblies. The instructions appear to show that this has been well thought out and engineered, making it a (fairly) simple operation. More experienced builders (with or without AM extras) will be able to produce a cracking model without too much effort.
As far as accurracy is concerned, I cannot comment; suffice to say that I suspect it will look pretty much like a Walrus when built, and that's close enough for this bodger :-D

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
Best wishes

Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
mylo66
Getting well comfy!
Posts: 69
Joined: January 22nd, 2016, 2:40 pm
Location: East Kent

Re: Airfix 1/48 Supermarine Walrus Mk.1 New Tool

Post by mylo66 »

Hi Iggie. Just found this post. Nice images. Ive got this (although its disappeared & turned into a Christmas present) but not before
i had a peak in the box, well... you have to check for missing bits etc dont you? ;-)
I think the thing that stood out to me was the external texture detail. The panel distortion between rivet lines in particular is outstanding.
User avatar
JohnRatzenberger
Why is he so confused ?
Posts: 15708
Joined: April 5th, 2011, 3:42 pm
Location: Living on a sandbar - Nags Head, NC.

Re: Airfix 1/48 Supermarine Walrus Mk.1 New Tool

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

Thanks, iggie, I have a few more weeks to wait on mine.

Frankly the interior detail looks overscale, maybe it is just how it looks in the photo. Do agree on the measles, fortunately not a lot can be seen so clean-up can be limited.

I do note they have applied their usual thoughtful design and engineering to solving (what I consider) the most difficult part of a Walrus build, the canted engine and the attendant complication with the nacelle and center section struts. It wasn't until a year after I built the CA kit that I figured out no matter how good it looked, I had in fact got the struts wrong.
John Ratzenberger :???:
It's my model and I'll do what I want with it.
User avatar
splash
Senior Service Rotorhead
Posts: 13828
Joined: May 1st, 2011, 11:02 am
Location: Somerset England

Re: Airfix 1/48 Supermarine Walrus Mk.1 New Tool

Post by splash »

Thanks for the excellent review up to now I didn’t want a 1/48 scale kit but I’m now re thinking my options :evil:
My work bench is starting to look like Portsmouth Naval Dockyard.
ShaunW
NOT the sheep
Posts: 26118
Joined: November 26th, 2011, 6:11 pm
Location: Pontefract West Yorkshire

Re: Airfix 1/48 Supermarine Walrus Mk.1 New Tool

Post by ShaunW »

Sorry, I have to admit that I'm not particularly interested in the subject type but, putting my objective hat on, I can appreciate what a great looking kit this is. I like 1/48th scale for smaller aircraft types as I feel it gives a good balance between size (from a display cabinet point of view) and detail. And it's good to see the Aussie option, which I feel is the one that I'd go for if I was building the kit, just to have a slightly different looking Walrus on display. I have a feeling that most of those ejector pin marks on the inside won't really be visible.
Doing - Tamiya 1/35th Universal Carrier.

Work is the curse of the modelling classes!
IPMS#12300
User avatar
beany
Fat git, glasses, goatie - Avoid!
Posts: 4306
Joined: April 6th, 2011, 11:05 am
Location: Chellaston, Derby

Re: Airfix 1/48 Supermarine Walrus Mk.1 New Tool

Post by beany »

Good review mate. Like Shaun, not a kit on my Amazon (or any other) wish list, which is probably just as well because I am still infuriated by the shoddy work as far as the ejector pin marks are concerned - caused I believe when the part is ejected from the mold but the plastic is still soft. Would adjusting the timing on the machine to wait a few seconds longer not be the answer? Other manufacturers seem to be able to avoid this in the main, so why not Airfix?

It was a huge disappointment to me back when I purchased the 1/24th Mosquito and found the plastic bore a striking resemblance to the surface of the Moon with the number of craters puncturing the surfaces. Either that, or Airfix should do the decent thing and bung a gratis tube of filler in each box to fill the ejector holes in with!

Then again, I probably will buy one somewhere down the road if I find one in the KitSwap at Telford say one year, because ultimately I am a sucker for the DSG/Slate Grey/Sky on any aircraft.

Cheers
Al.
2024 Acquired: 9 Built: 1
User avatar
JohnRatzenberger
Why is he so confused ?
Posts: 15708
Joined: April 5th, 2011, 3:42 pm
Location: Living on a sandbar - Nags Head, NC.

Re: Airfix 1/48 Supermarine Walrus Mk.1 New Tool

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

I am going to piggyback on iggie's review of the kit, having just received mine.

6 items I noticed on a quick look:
- I ordered 2 kits and one of those kits was missing the 2nd glossy A3 sheet of markings/rigging.
- the tail struts, E08 & E09, appear slightly bent; but probably easy to correct.
- it is my impression that the C1 fuselage roundels (#31) for scheme A are very slightly out of register on the yellow.
- the kit uses the earlier water-rudder tailwheel (E28), but the later wheel-only is also included as E29.
- I still think the fuselage internal detail is overdone, but then it won't be seen much.
- the rigging diagrams will be daunting to all but the more experienced, more so if you choose the folded wing option as no advice is given.

Looks like a great kit.

I also ordered some Eduard phototech and I thought I'd discuss them. Go to the Eduard store to look at the PDF instructions if you want full details. It's typical Eduard, lots added, lots replaced, some unnecessary, some redundant -- I am at the stage of life where cherry-picking what pieces I use and what are good enough is more important than detail for its own sake.

Here are some quick thoughts on each set (the images are from the Eduard site):

EX557 - the glass masks, always handy

Image

FE848 - although called "interior" this is really just the cockpit; it is included in 49848.

Image

49848 - also labeled the interior, but it is the full thing to include FE848; much will not be visible. I can see a lot of this never being used, for example what appears to be a dozen PE parts to make a functional 2nd-pilot seat (kit part D42, which looks good enough to me).

Image

FE849 - seatbelts, unsurprisingly NOT included in either 49848 or FE848.

Image

48929 - exterior; a mixed bag of useful detail and minor changes. There is engine detailing, underwing racks, and control actuators, etc. Does not include 48932.

Image

48932 - exterior; the underwing bomb-bay details, supplemental to 48929.

Image

648343 -- wheels; contains the late tail-wheel (unused kit part E29), two tires, and the option for either covered or spoked wheels (spokes not shown in this picture). Unnecessary IMO if you are doing wheels up, for starters the tyre is compressed as if on the ground and the spokes will be hidden in the wing. The kit hubs and tires seem detailed enough.

Image

So, the masks are always useful, the small interior probably good enough compared to the full one, the seatbelts are preference, the exterior leans toward being useful, but I'm not sure about the bomb-bay . It's your call - go look at he instructions if undecided. Whenever I get around to this, sooner rather than later I hope, I'll go into it all in more detail.
John Ratzenberger :???:
It's my model and I'll do what I want with it.
User avatar
novokits
Active Participant
Posts: 924
Joined: May 1st, 2011, 9:58 am
Location: Moscow
Contact:

Re: Airfix 1/48 Supermarine Walrus Mk.1 New Tool

Post by novokits »

Thanks for a review!
I still hope for 1/72 new kit
User avatar
iggie
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 23360
Joined: July 31st, 2013, 11:04 am
Location: North Somercotes, Lincolnshire
Contact:

Re: Airfix 1/48 Supermarine Walrus Mk.1 New Tool

Post by iggie »

Nice addition to the review John, and having read your comments regarding the bent parts I have been out to the stash and checked mine; no apparent bends so looks like I've got away with it.
I agree about picking and choosing parts to use from AM sets; I'm certain that there is a market for simplified PE sets rather than the expensive all singing and dancing sets that seem to be the norm now.
Best wishes

Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
Post Reply

Return to “In-Box reviews”