new Airfix kit reissued?

This kit dates from the 1950's. It represents an Auster T7 (or AOP6?) used in an Antarctic expedition. The few photographs I've seen of the real aircraft show it on floats. It was non-standard in various ways, including the wheeled undercarriage, but I can find no details.

Gordon McLaughlin

I did notice the new box art shows how the skis are made up, on waht look like wheel axles yet the kit parts are very simplified, a tiny little plane, cute thing.

The decals are great quality too, esp compared to a lot of the new reissues.

I had one in a blister pack but I never got around to building it. It was being sold as an AOP.6 and had 'ARMY' markings. The wheeled u/c and the floats were there but I don't think the skis were. I sold it on E-bay last fall.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

What country/aircraft are the decals for? There are some good International Orange RAAF aircraft.

RAF trainer and some Antartic expedition plane(as shown on box)

Anyone got any images or know where to look, i did a google but not bugger all

If you go to Yahoo and enter "Auster T7 Antarctic" as a search criterion, you get several useful sites. The aircraft is preserved in its Antarctic livery and has the wheeled undercarriage. This is non-standard as it has to have the skis attached below the wheels. The kit has the skis as a separate undercarriage without the wheels and I don't know if it was ever used like that. There were two of these aircraft. The vertical tail is also different from the standard Auster T7 and would have to be altered along with the undercarriage and cockpit interior if you wanted to model an ordinary T7 or AOP6.

Some of the sites have colour photographs of the preserved aircraft.

Gordon McLaughlin