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Airfix Battle of Britain class locomotive, Biggin HIll


Ron Bell

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Seems I'm a broken record in this area with my Airfix locomotives. I get one a year and do them. Nice kits of interesting subjects and they are something different to build.

 

This one is of a Battle of Britain Class locomotive used in the 50's and 60's. Each engine was named after a fighter base, or ace or something linked to the Battle of Britain. This one is the Biggin Hill, a fighter base around London. One quirk is that the name plate on the engine side should have an RAF blue background and not red. Other releases of the same kit have the blue, but I got 'lucky' and go the wrong color. The decals were old and yellow, so they spent sometime in a sunny window and then a coat of gloss coat to keep them from shattering.

 

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More properly, in British terms, they are OO which is HO to us. These were originally Rosebud Kitmaster, taken over by Airfix when KM folded and yes, most could be motorized but ran better the more of the running gear (and couplers) was swapped out as you might imagine.

 

Ron, I use www.modelmasterdecals.com out of Scotland, I think, for livery decals -- you might find such things as the mis-colored logo there.

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The preferred sale in Europe is "OO", which is 1/76. That's why all the old Airfix vehicle and structure kits were 1/76 and not 1/72, they were marketing to the model RR crowd. However, in the US, the preferred scale was "HO", which is 1/87. So, Airfix marketed the kits to both. "N" scale scale is 1/160, much smaller.

 

John,thanks for the tip on the decals. European railroad liveries are not readily available in the US, as I'm sure you know.

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Cool looking Locomotive. It reminds me of "Thomas the Tank Engine", when watching it with my son 20 yrs ago.

 

We used to collect the ERTL metal ones.

 

I just had a nice trip down memory lane...Thanks.

 

Bill

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  • 2 years later...

I just acquired one of these. Any tips on building it? Also, is there a US retailer of Phoenix Precision paints (British rail colors)? I'll need some S.R. Malachite Green.

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  • 1 month later...

Wow, I never knew these kits existed! I'd love to start collecting these to build to.

 

Sensational job Ron! That is a big beautiful beastie! Magnificent!

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  • 1 month later...
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