It was ‘Little Nellie’ in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice that first lit my appreciation of autogyros.
Watching ‘the’ James Bond (sorry Daniel, Connery for me!) throw Q’s aerial ‘hot hatch’ around the sky certainly made a lasting impression. Naturally, I snapped up and greatly enjoyed Airfix’s resulting 1/24 scale Wallis WA-112, which was released the same year as the film.
With marriage, children and a thicker waistline having developed in the intervening years, MiniArt’s release of a 1/35 Avro 671 kit in 2019 resurrected my ‘autogyro fever’. I knew I had to build one! After repeatedly perusing the four colour schemes included, I kept coming back to the trainer yellow option, with its distinctive reddish undercarriage and partial camouflage. Happy with the choice, I pointed my modelling brain into wind and released the brakes.
Avro 671 Rota Mk.I RAF
By: MiniArt
Stock Code: 41008
Scale: 1/35
Price: £44.99
Available from: MiniArt website
The Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major 1a seven-cylinder engine (known as Civet I in RAF service) was replicated comprehensively via MiniArt’s 35 parts and amply reflected the Ukrainian firm’s attention to detail and drive f…
