Scale Aviation Modeller International — November 2017

Walrus Mk.1

First look at Airfix 1/48 Walrus Mk.1

T

his is a month of

superlatives, with so many

kits pushing the boundaries

of what resin and injection-

moulded plastic can achieve. And

on opening the box of the new

Airfix Walrus I was immediately

impressed with the quality of the

surface detail on the metal areas,

which feature a mix of raised and

recessed detail, and on the doped

fabric areas, which feature a nice

representation of fabric over ribs.

The internal detail is equally

well reproduced. Most of it will

be invisible after construction,

though, so the only thing that

you need to add is seatbelts, and

Eduard already have that covered.

The kit is packed with options,

from the obvious, such as down

or retracted undercarriage, to the

subtler, like the option to have a

landing light in the wings or not.

There is also a choice of general-

purpose bombs or depth charges.

One feature that will be

appreciated by many is the ability

to fold the wings. If you look at

photographs of the real aircraft,

you will see that this can be a

weak point, as the hinge point

is quite small. Airfix, however,

have cleverly engineered a wing

spar that makes this a simple

task. In fact, everywhere you look

you will find clever engineering

and plenty of detail. It’s all

supported by a very comprehensive

instruction manual, which clearly

shows where everything fits.

On a separate sheet, you have

colour profiles for the three

marking options, and a separate

A-3 sheet devoted to a rigging

diagram. With a number of

different views displayed, the

latter sheet should make the task

of rigging a relatively simple one.

The marking options provide three

different camouflage schemes.

• Supermarine Walrus Mk.1, 276
  Squadron, Royal Air Force,
  Harrowbeer, Devon, 1944.
  This was an Air-Sea Rescue
  aircraft and has nine successful
  rescues tallied on the nose.


• Supermarine Walrus Mk.1,
  700 NAS, HMS Sheffield, 1941.

This aircraft was used during

the operations that led to the

sinking of the Bismark.

• Supermarine Walrus Mk.1,
  5CF, Royal Australian Air
  Force, New Guinea, 1943.

My only concern with this kit is

that the decals are quite thick

and some show quite large areas

of clear film, which may cause

silvering unless applied to a really

gloss surface. But Xtradecal already

52 • NOVEMBER 2017 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

FIRST LOOK!

052-57-FirstLooks-1117.indd 52 16/10/2017 15:31