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Airfix re-issued Denis Fire Engine and London Bus

I got these today, two in one box (in the UK at least).

They are in the original bright red plastic which I recall from my youth, unfortunately, while they provide the basis for WW1 conversions, the 'Ole Bill' parts are NOT included in the box. I think the 'military' parts were printed on card, so I guess if someone has a set and can scan them there is a market for these items.

I recall that the Airfix Magazine of the period had a number of projects using these kits.

I wonder if anyone will produce resin conversions for these?

Hope this is some interest.

JH

Reply to
Max Henry
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Red plastic. I HATE red plastic! It's a sod to paint. I was hoping for something like grey. Ah well, no sale then, and I was really looking forward to buying this set.

I wonder what happened to the tooling that provided the parts to the military version?

Spudgun

Reply to
Spudgun

Don't you primer the model with primer white or a light camo grey? It makes further painting much easier........

Reply to
Old Timer

From memory the "miltary" parts were only printed cardboard, so if you knew someone who had one it could be copied and printed on card.

If my memory is correct, I can't explain why the parts aren't included.

Of course, the red parts are ideal for red fire engines and London buses!

Cheers

MH

Reply to
Max Henry

It really depends on what I'm making. Here's a couple of examples: I built the Comet Miniatures Movie Dalek (red plastic). I built into sub-assemblies, sprayed it primer grey, then gloss black. No problems. I then built the Imai Space:1999 Eagle (some parts are white plastic). I then sprayed it primer white. It took a number of coats to completely hide the red. It's almost like the red leeched into the white. The problem with the Airfix Bus is that the inside is white. I find that white on red is a bit of a sod. On the whole, I prefer a nice neutral grey plastic, but hey, that's me.

Spudgun

Reply to
Spudgun

I use a grey cellulose car primer. A couple of light mist coats cover quite nicely and effectively kill the colour of the plastic beneath.

Reply to
Enzo Matrix

The panels that went on the side of the 'Old Bill' bus were certainly printed. However, there was a sprue that had figures of soldiers and assorted equipment (spades, picks, etc). If memory serves, the military bus parts were included in 2 boxings of the kit. One was with the Military artwork on the box lid (Kit was moulded in green plastic). the second appeared to be the standard Omnibus, but was moulded in white or grey plastic. The extra military parts were still supplied in green.

I'd agree that a scan of the military panels would be welcome though.

Spudgun

Reply to
Spudgun

This was discussed a couple of months ago on the Airfix website. Here's what I posted there: Had a look on ebay to see what I could find by way of boxart and contents.

Type 2, civillian box art, moulded in red, civillian option only

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Type 3, civillian box art, moulded in red, civillian option only (this is the release I have)
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Type 3, military box art, moulded in green and looks like military option only
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Type 3, military box art, moulded in white and looks like military option only?
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Type 4, civil box art, moulded in green and white, both options
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The 2 most recent releases, newer box art, moulded in red, civillian only
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?ViewItem&category=9142&item=3780684736&rd=1&ssPageName=WD2V So, it looks like you need either the Type 3 military boxart or the Type 4 civillian boxart if you want to do the military option. All other releases are civillian only. I'm also surprised to find the kit moulded in three different colours.

John

Reply to
John Walker

I have a 1960s release of both in separate boxes. The WW I version has a sprue with 6 soldiers some rifles and a pick. The soldiers are front and back halves that have to be glued together. There's also cardboard that represents boards fixed to the sides of the bus to provide some protection. These have the names of regiments chalked on them in white. Looks like the model hauled half the British Army to the front.Unfortunately the soldiers are very poor quality and the boards look like printed cardboard. The chalk writing is all uniform (maybe the British army has a specification - Grafitti, Application Thereof to a Converted Bus), and pure white - one would think chalk would run and fade quickly. Given the quality of kits today I would think you'd be better off with after market fiqures and bassboard replacements. There were no suitable aftermarket figures available in the 60s - which is why I never completed it at the time.

Val Kraut

Reply to
Val Kraut

Too bad the 'tag artists' hadn't come along yet. They sure have lots of time to bugger up the railroad cars. And, I've seen that it's an international problem. :(

Are these the same type of bus that's being removed from service in favour of newer, faster ones? Maybe that's why Airfix is re-releasing them now.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

Reply to
Mad-Modeller

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