Airfix 1/72 Short Stirling
RAF No. 7 Squadron was founded at Farnborough Airfield on 1 May 1914, being the last squadron of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) to be formed before the First World War.
During the Interwar years it was re-formed at RAF Bircham Newton on 1 June 1923 to perform heavy night bombing, starting with the Vickers Vimy and continuing in this role with a succession of types, such as the Vickers Virginia, the Handley Page Heyford, the Vickers Wellesley, the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, the Avro Anson and the Handley Page Hampden, gaining the reputation of being one of the leading RAF heavy bomber squadrons.
On 1 August 1940 it was equipped with Short Stirlings, becoming the first RAF squadron to operate four engined bombers during the Second World War and was re-equipped with the Avro Lancaster from 11 May 1943.
Post-war it was successively equipped with Avro Lincolns, Vickers Valiants, English Electric Canberras and, from 1982 onwards, Chinooks.
Regarding the Short Stirling itself, despite the not extremely wise design requirement to limit its wing span to 100ft (which, among others, decisively compromised its service ceiling), together with the inherent drawbacks of the dimensionally limited bomb bays (meaning the longer “super” bombs could not be carried) and, finally, the elongated (aka prone to collapsing) main landing gear to improve take-offs, it was, especially for those early war times, a very fine machine: a delight to fly, able to perform its missions concisely and absorb quite substantial battle damage, making it back home.
This is the elderly 1966 Airfix mold that has accompanied us through the years.
Should you wish to read the full build review, you may do so by visiting my beloved site Modelingmadness:
https://modelingmadness.com/review/allies/gb/bombers/penstirl.htm
Happy Modelling!
Ah...the memories! Beautiful box art and you did the Ye Olde Stirling a great service!
Thank you kindly, my friend @michiel_gielen!
I too have been intrigued by the Airfix box art and this design, but have never attempted to build one. You have done a very nice job with it. I will definitely check out the build thread. Curiously, the underside photo gives the impression that the fuselage is longer than the wingspan. That has to be an optical illusion. The photo of the unassembled parts laid out clearly show the wingspan to be greater. Looking up the actual dimensions, the length was 87 feet, and the wingspan 99 feet. The bomb bay doors in the wings appear to be the same quirky design as those found on the Fairey Battle. Was there a bomb bay in the fuselage? So many things to consider. Thanks for posting this along with the No. 7 Squadron information.
Thank you so much, my friend @russjurco! Indeed, the fuselage is shorter than the wingspan, the photo is distorted. Yes, there's a fuselage bomb bay and it is provided by the kit, but I wasn't brave enough to build it open 🙂
she's a beauty Spiros! A year or so ago I got rid of my "larger" kits, this among them, and it is the one kit I regret not feeling like I have the space to house, as I really wanted to do a nicely weathered rendition of the Stirling.
Thank you very much, my friend @gkittinger! I too feel the same about this kit, despite it being old and less refined it is attractive in its own manner.
To be honest , there both pretty decent for ancient kits
Amazing work on this Spiros , definitely better than mine my friend well done you got depth into the colour and a bit of weathering , it's great.
Thank you kindly, my friend @neil-foster! I think yours is better.
An awesome build of an awesome aircraft, Spiros @fiveten
Even in 1/72 not that easy to handle and build it as beautiful as you did.
Well done.
Thank you so much, my friend @johnb!
Fantastic result, Spiros! Solid build of a great old kit. You did a great job with the tack putty masking too.
Thanks a lot, my friend @j-healy!
Great job on this old beast Spiros!
Thank you very much, my friend @dtravis!
You have done honour to this venerable kit and breathed wonderful life into it. I find that admirable and beautiful! I also have childhood memories of the Airfix Stirling, even if I only dreamed about it back then but never built it.
Great work, Spiros!
Thank you kindly, my friend @rosachsenhofer!
Very nice work on this old Airfix kit.
It turned out looking great, Spiros !
Thanks a lot, my friend @ssgt!
Great work on this classic Airfix kit, Spiros. 1966 was a classic year for many of us, England won the football World Cup, beating Germany in the final, Ford eventually managed to beat Ferrari in the Le Mans 24 hour race, I joined the RAF as an apprentice, and Airfix released the Short Stirling kit.
Thank you very much, my friend @chinesegeorge!
What a year 1966 was!
Hi Spiros
I well remember building the old Airfix Stirling many years ago. I always retained an affection for the kit even though it was a difficult build. You've done really well in presenting a very accomplished model from such unprepossessing material. Great work.
Thank you kindly, my friend @christopher!
Yes, great work on this oldie but goodie, Spiros @fiveten. Didn't you once build an Italeri Stirling?
Thanks a lot, my friend @eb801! No, never built the Italeri.
Nice work Spiros @fiveten
Looks fantastic 😎
Thank you very much, my friend @scottiya!
Thanks for the background info, very interesting! I didn’t know about the limitations.
You built a great looking kit of a very ugly bird, Spiros @fiveten!
Thank you very much, my friend @fxrob!
Excellent work Spiros !
Thanks a lot, my friend @ramair67!
Very well done, Spiros. Like the paint job!
Thanks so much, my friend @gwskat!
Fantastic, Spiros. An absolute peach of a build. Really impressive given the vintage. The paint job is exceptional.
Thank you kindly, my friend @yellow10!
That's very impressive, Spiros @fiveten! 🤩 You've produced a great result of a classic kit and a great article in which to present it! Congratulations on work well done, dude! 👏
Thank you so much, my friend @garybrantley!
Excellent paintwork Spiros (@fiveten). I missed that it was the Airfix kit until I read some of the comments and had to go back and take another look. These old Airfix kits can really be made to look nice if you have the desire to do so. You did a great job on this one. I'm trying to see if you removed the raised surface detailing or simply toned it down.
Thank you so much, my friend @clipper! I am too lazy to rescribe, so I left everything "as is" 🤭
Great work on this ancient kit, Spiros.
Thank you very much, my friend @tcinla!
I love it! Excellent work Spiros @fiveten.
Thanks a lot, my friend @v1pro!
Wonderful job Spiros. I too had this kit as a kid, and it was one of my favourites. I see an Italeri kit in my future. (I'm not looking in a crystal ball. I'm looking in my basement.)
Keep up the inspiring work.
Thank you very much, my friend @aldog! Looking forward to your Stirling!
Sterling finish on this oldie but goodie kit!
Thank you so much, my friend @georgeswork!
Very Very beautiful build! Tjis is that old Airfix kit?
Thanks a lot, my friend @lis! Yes, this is the old Airfix.
Fantastic job mate, love it. And the Stirling is my favourite of the RAF Heavies.
Thank you so much, my friend @paulwoodyvanacker!