Airfix 1/72 Supermarine Walrus by Jay Blakemore
SUPERMARINE SURPRISE
A
irfix had a 1/72 scale
Supermarine Walrus in
their kit inventory as
far back as the 1960’s – I know
because I wanted one. But who
would have gambled on them
producing an all-new, state-of-
the-art, quarter-scale version
of such an obscure aircraft? I
say obscure, but that’s a little
unfair, for the Walrus played
an important role during the
Second World War, and many a
pilot launching from a carrier or
dog-fighting over the English
Channel would have felt comforted
to know that nearby there was
a Walrus ready to pick them out
of the briny in an emergency.
The excited reaction from the
crowds that surrounded the Airfixstand at the 2016 Telford show,
where first glimpses of the new
model could be had, suggested that
the release was infact a shrewd
move by the UK manufacturer. My
own thoughts, upon glimpsing
the pre-production model from
the rear of the milling crowds at
that show, were ones of nostalgia,
as I recalled my childhood
ambitions of adding a 1/72 scale
replica to my collection. Those
ambitions remained unfulfilled,
and so, on first setting eyes upon
the new-tool Walrus, I felt that
having waited this long, I owed
it to myself to finally build one.THE BIG BOX
There is nothing more exciting
than opening a kit for the first timeWALRUS
Wonderful
76 • MARCH 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
BY SACCO DE VRIES
SUPERMARINE WALRUS
BY JAY BLAKEMORE
1/72076-81-FEAT-Walrus-0318.indd 76 09/02/2018 14:31