Decals for an RAF machine and a historic Royal Navy airframe accompany the reissue of Airfix’s 1/48 Tiger Moth, as CHRIS CLIFFORD reports.
One of aviation’s most famous biplanes, de Havilland’s Tiger Moth was first replicated in 1/48 scale by Airfix in 2019. Arguably, it was instantly the best iteration on the market in that scale; previously, about the best was Aeroclub’s mixed-media kit in the 1990s.
Now, the Airfix Tiger Moth has returned (as item A04104A with fresh decals). The first livery has this iconic trainer in RAF garb of classic Dark Earth and Dark Green, but also with ‘shadow shading’ on top of the lower wing (differing colours to those already mentioned, plus yellow undersurfaces, lower fuselage sides and interplane struts. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy option is notable for being one of four Tiger Moths that landed on HMS Eagle in 1964… thought to be the last time biplanes landed on a British aircraft carrier. The Fleet Air Arm is resplendent in doped aluminium and Day-Glo orange panels. The liveries in detail are:
• BB852E, Britannia Flight, Britannia Royal Naval College, Roborough, Plymouth, Devon, July 1, 1965
• N-9496/17, 9 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School, RAF Ansty, Warwickshire, UK, October 1940
Above: Engine detail adorns the fuselage halves…
