Airfix 1/72 Typhoon , end of a modelling era

[Panzerwomble]

My father chose to pass away three days before my birthday in March. A fall, he never woke up again, and although I miss him; I felt at 94, still active, still living unaided in the same home he and my mother bought in 1964, he had, as we English like to put it, a “fair innings”.

 

40 years in the Royal Navy, thirty years on a comfortable pension, a good life.  My mother, now failing and in a hospice, will follow him in a few weeks, and as the only child, mine will be the task of winding up their affairs and selling the family home in which I grew up during the 1970’s and 80’s. 

 

It’s a rite of passage, the losing of old familiar places, and of people who shared those old common memories. The young boy who devoured Commando comics and Airfix kits at a vast rate, graduating to Tamiya armour & thick tomes of history, before finally, the flight to university, pub, girls, kids and career, home town left behind -never to return. 

 

And so, in this long hot summer of 2022, I’m reminded of summers of my childhood, equally hot and long, and of the models I made, the chronology of which has mostly been lost over the intervening decades. It occurs to me that in a few short months, the opportunity to build another model here will be lost, and so I decided to make one last model in my parent’s house. Some, old school, old tool kit, using the same methods and tools as of 40 years ago. 

 

Choice was a little random, I recalled making this old 1/72 Typhoon around 1977, then lazing around on the flat garage roof sunbathing. Tooling was originally 1959 so nearly 20 years old when I made it back then….. Airfix continued releasing the same kit up to 2009 …way beyond its expiry date - in my mind they have no shame for peddling such old tat. 

 

So, methods - all brush painting, tube glue, tweezers and kraft knife …no superglues or extra thin cement, airbrushes etc, masks, proper thinners or decal fixers. All the methods of the 1970’s not the 2020’s. 

 

This is the model I bought, c/w 12 year old mini acrylic paints (sadly not enamels) ….and the original release I bought back in the model shop in ’77.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fit is not bad in all honesty, raised details are ok for the scale, all the parts are way too thick, but it sort of hangs together. Wings were slightly warped but good old clothes pegs pulled them together ….fit with the wings could do with some filler but that was not my methodology back then .

 

 

 

 

Paint brushed straight to plastic, no primers or masking tape here. Kit decals are 40 years ahead of the old ones, but with no varnish coat I’m sucking up a bit of silvering. Tube glue is ropey too, even using it with a toothpick.

 

And so, after a few days of nostalgia, this the last model I’ll make at this house, from a Frog Bf110G in 1973/4 to this Typhoon nearly 50 years later. End of an era, we move on. 

 

QRT. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 21, 2022 by Panzerwomble

[nmayhew]

I'm sorry for your loss, and the one that you say will come shortly.

 

I took a slightly different route a year or two back - I made a 1/32 109 E in JG27 trop scheme because i had such fond memories of the old Matchbox kit in 1/72.

 

The way you describe your childhood sounds the same as I would describe mine so I can identify with much if not all that you write.

 

You should box and keep this finished kit because it's almost like a time capsule of your childhood and, if you have children (which sadly I do not), then you can show them this as a glimpse into a past they can barely imagine.

 

Thank you for sharing.

 

Nick

 

[RadBaron]

Sorry for your loss, mate, thags terrible news, but a beautiful, heart-moving tribute.

 

You and your parents are in my thoughts.

[LSP_K2]

Sorry to hear of your family issues, truly. I like your idea of taking the old school approach with this kit. I'd put that in a place of honor, were I you.

[MikeC]

Very sorry for your loss.  I was a bit ahead of you - I first did that kit when it came in a plastic bag.  I've also done the same Frog Bf 110G you mention, that was one of my better efforts back in the day.

 

The old school techniques still produce a reasonable result, don't they?

[Troy Molitor]

My condolences as well.  I lost my Dad in May of this year in a similar fashion.   He fell in his own house and hurt his leg.  A couple days in a chair and he couldn't stand back up .  Went to a hospice to heal up and fell asleep on a Friday and never woke up again.  He died the following Monday.  I was driving to Wisconsin from Tennessee and heard word he passed while driving myself up to see him.  The was a long drive by myself.  Not a day goes by without thinking on the great memories.  The Tiffy looks grand by the way.  All the best and thanks for sharing your story and build with us.  

 

Troy     

[Out2gtcha]

Condolences.............I lost my pop back in 2017 and he was the ONLY reason I got into modeling and aviation at all. Sad to think that no models will get built there again, but as you say, we all move on.

Well done, and as Nick said, I would keep this one as I feel it is going to/already holds some great past memories. 

[JerseyChris]

What a very moving post, I too have very fond memories of getting my dad to buy me an air fix kit on a Saturday morning, getting it back home and have it completed by teatime! I can smell the air fix tune glue! Revisiting kits that we built as kids is probably the closest to time traveling as we’ll ever get. I applaud you sir, and am sorry for your loss.

[Elftone]

So sorry for your loss. I understand it well. But what a beautiful tribute to your parents and your past.

[Javlin1]

A lovely tribute keep the model memories need help from time to time.

[Gazzas]

My condolences.  But a fitting way to move on.  Great work on the little kit.

[jeroen_R90S]

My condolences as well...

My dad is some 20 years younger, but he got me into modelling as well, one of the things I really learned from him was to let me make controlled mistakes to learn from. Knowing him it must have cost him a lot of energy not to rip things from my hand and do it himself. It's really something that I'm tempted to do with my own kids but that lesson has stuck so I really try to let my kids make controlled mistakes in a lot of things, too.

 

I only have one old model from my early teens left: a 1/48 Hasegawa F-16D I got from an uncle (one my dad's brothers) who sadly passed away far too young. The model is awfully built but it has lots of memories embedded to it and it now sits on a shelf in my oldest's room....

 

Jeroen

 

 

 

[dennismcc]

I've only just read this thread and it sounds like a great idea rising out of one of the saddest things that can happen in life, losing a parent, but the important thing is the memories that you have.

I lost my parents before I could really get to know them as an adult as they both died relatively young by todays standard, but the memories can still warm me and make me chuckle, my mum tended to make "repairs" to my models after dusting accidents as my completed kits were on pelmets, window sills and any flat surface in the house.

I can remember one such "repair" when the aircraft on board HMS Victorious all turned the wrong way way on deck mysteriously.

 

You have my sincere condolences

 

Dennis

[monthebiff]

My sincere condolences to you and your family. Your early modelling experiences sound very familiar but it was my Grandad who started my bug one day in Cambridge buying me a72nd scale Fokker Dr.I and from thar moment I was hooked and then it was down too Dad to assist me in my early builds. Fast forward over 40 years and our wedding day breakfast table theme was wwII aircraft which I built up many 72nd Airfix kits. We still have the Typhoon in one piece at home and makes me smile every day I walk past it. Modelling certainly gives us all such evocative memories from our first taste of it growing up to where we are with it now after so many years.

 

Regards  Andy