A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: AIRFIX 1/48 JAGUAR GR.1A – ALL DONE!

Built from what I consider to be one of Airfix’s finest kits, this was my chance to finally add one of my all-time favourite aircraft to my collection of models.

26th June 2025

A nice simple day today sees the completion of my Airfix Jaguar ready for its starring role in my new modelling guide.

Built from what I consider to be one of Airfix’s finest kits, this was my chance to finally add one of my all-time favourite aircraft to my collection of models. Despite having built models for the thick end of 50 years I’d never built this aircraft in miniature, so it was a real treat to right that wrong with this new kit.

The Airfix kit is superb, though not entirely perfect. There are compromises within the kit, the lack of intake trunks being perhaps the most egregious. Some details are also a little woolly, the Sidewinders and their rails being overly simplified, as are the chaff/flare dispensers. I was also not entirely enamoured with the lack of detail within the laser nose, but these are small issues that can with ease, be dealt with by the enthusiastic modeller, either using their own materials or skills, or by replacing the parts with accessories from the aftermarket.

For more of my thoughts in this kit, please check out my initial thoughts on it from earlier this year…

A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: AIRFIX 1/48 JAGUAR INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

As it stands I now have a model that I’m really pleased with and the subject of another book, details of which can be found in this recent update on this site:

MODELMAKER’S LIFE: A BIG CAT DIARY…

Plans are already afoot to build a second Airfix Jaguar and though my thoughts are very much with another RAF machine, I think I’ll be tackling something a little different next time around, details of which I hope to reveal shortly.

In the meantime, I hope you like my new model and that you are sufficiently pleased with it to once again consider buying a copy of my new book when pre-sales for it open over the next week or so! 

Thanks so much once again for your interest in my work and I will see you again tomorrow.