Airfix

<p>As this weekend will see millions of people around the world celebrating Valentine’s Day, and our undying love for that special someone, or something in our lives, there really could be only one subject for this latest edition of Workbench, even though we’re probably going to be requiring the use of your imagination at points along the way. Will we be able to produce something which encompasses love, Airfix and the hobby we all hold so dear, or will our blog gift end up being a little wide of the Valentine’s mark? As ever, you will be the judges of that, but you can rest assured that we’ll be giving it our best shot, and like the Milk Tray advert of years past, <em>it will all be because we know Workbench readers love Airfix model kits.</em></p><p> </p><p>So, as we start to create this latest edition of Workbench, the first one since marking our 400th edition last time around, we’re not exactly sure which subject direction we’re going to be taking, but what we do know is that we will be featuring a few Airfix scale model kits along the way. Hold on tight, this might turn out to be something of a wild ride.</p><p> </p><p>Going back to the subject of our recent 400th edition for a moment, as our previous blog was published late on Saturday evening for the first time in almost eleven years, if you haven’t already read that edition, please do so, as we announced a rather spectacular competition last Saturday, with a mega kit bundle worth £400 being up for grabs. Please use the link above to be taken straight to the competition page.</p>

<p>Welcome to the latest edition of our weekly Workbench blog, and all the news, updates, and modelling exclusives from the fascinating world of Airfix.</p><p>We seem to have started this year with a succession of different kinds of blog updates, with the vast majority not conforming to our usual format, but all celebrating the Airfix brand and the simple pleasures of the modelling hobby. We’re pleased to confirm that we remain on that slightly more unusual blog trajectory with this latest edition, but with our ultimate destination being earth’s stratosphere, or to be more precise, an Airfix model kit being sent stratospheric. This is also the reason why we have an extremely rare Saturday evening publication for Workbench this time around, as we play our small part in this fascinating, record breaking project.</p><p>With our recently launched <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://uk.airfix.com/products/sls-artemis-gift-set-a50202"><strong>SLS Artemis kit </strong></a>being the focal point for this project, we will be bringing you all the details you will need to have you up to speed with a project that’s out of this world, and a new video presentation that we see us quite literally shooting for the stars. As we create this latest edition, we’re currently T-Minus 2 days and counting until publication launch, but by the time you will be reading this, Lift-Off will have already taken place.</p><p>The other big news for the week is that we’re celebrating the <strong>400th edition of Workbench</strong>, an Airfix blog phenomenon which began back in the summer of 2015. We know that many of our readers will have been with us since the very beginning and we’re truly humbled by your loyal support, so we wanted to mark this occasion with a little competition, with a spectacular kit bundle being up for grabs. You’ll find details about the competition in the blog section after the main event, so please do stick with us right till the end.</p><p>At 400 not out, we have an edition of Workbench aiming to go where no Airfix blog has gone before.</p>

<p>Welcome to this first edition of our Workbench blog for 2026, and all the news, updates, and modelling exclusives from the fascinating world of Airfix.</p><p>As we settle into the enjoyable business of introducing all the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://uk.airfix.com/new?langPath=airfix-uk&amp;filters%5Bmandatory_filter_by%5D%5Bproduct_group%5D=CORGI%20Black%20Friday&amp;page_id=145458&amp;sort-by=8&amp;page=1"><strong>new 2026 range model</strong></a> kit release to our Workbench audience, we begin by featuring a kit which may have caught a few people by surprise when presenting itself on range launch day, but has underlined its incredible popularity in the days since, our <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://uk.airfix.com/products/english-electric-lightning-f6-a09178a"><strong>1/48th scale English Electric Lightning F.6</strong></a>. A kit which is extremely highly regarded within the hobby, this is our scale tribute to one of the most exciting jet aircraft to have ever taken to the skies, and those who were lucky enough to have seen one display at an Airshow or RAF airfield back in the day, will surely never forget the experience.</p><p>If we started the year by looking at our latest <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://uk.airfix.com/community/airfix-club"><strong>Airfix Club Kit offering</strong></a> and the Swedish Air Force’s most exciting Cold War jet fighter, the Lightning is perhaps the only aircraft of that era which eclipsed it in terms of speed and performance, and may even have provided inspiration for the aircraft’s designers back then. Whatever that particular case may have been, the Lightning unquestionably stands as one of the finest achievements of the British aviation industry, an aircraft which was such a leap forward in technological terms that it’s history and service heritage still continues to captivate millions of people to this day. Would be get away with calling its Britain’s jet powered Spitfire, even though it was only produced in a tiny fraction of the 20,351 Spitfires built? Many enthusiasts certainly think so.</p><p>In this latest edition of Workbench, prepare to strap on a Lightning and shoot towards the heavens <strong><em>like a homesick angel!</em></strong></p>

<p>Welcome to this first edition of our Workbench blog for 2026, and all the news, updates, and modelling exclusives from the fascinating world of Airfix.</p><p>In the previous edition of Workbench, we began our review of new Airfix model kits for 2026 by looking at the recently announced Airfix Club kit for this year and our <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://uk.airfix.com/community/blog-and-news/workbench/2026-airfix-club-kit-commemorates-swedish-air-force-centenary"><strong>1/72nd scale tribute to this year’s centenary commemorations of the Svenska Flygvapnet, Swedish Air Force 100. </strong></a>As this new kit appears to have been particularly well received, we wanted to keep the new kit momentum going in this latest edition, by bringing you our annual range launch review edition, an unashamed celebration of all the recently announced new Airfix modelling delights.</p><p>As the dust has now settled on our latest range introduction event, we wanted to take this opportunity to look at some of the 2026 projects which are going to be capturing our attentions over the coming year, hopefully including some of the kit subjects our readers have been hoping we were going to include in our range at some point. We will be looking at new tooling projects, recently released kits which now feature new parts and scheme options, and of course, the return of some much loved classics, but each one an enjoyable build project in the making.</p><p>For those of us who haven’t yet seen it, we will be embedding our latest range launch video into the body of this latest blog, where our Head of Brand, Dale Luckhurst, takes us through the finer points of our latest range, the continuation of a proud Airfix tradition which has been captivating modellers for many a year.</p><p>It’s new Airfix model kits galore in this latest edition of Workbench.</p>

<p>Welcome to this first edition of our Workbench blog for 2026, and all the news, updates, and modelling exclusives from the fascinating world of Airfix.</p><p>The start to any new year is an extremely busy time for the Airfix team, and the wider modelling community, as we prepare to unleash our latest collection of model kits on an expectant modelling world, something we did once again last Wednesday. As we know everyone will still probably be analysing the finer points of the range to see which of the new kits will be finding their way into their own personal modelling logbooks this year, we wanted to let you crack on with this for another week or so, but still throw the blog spotlight on one of the new kit additions made earlier this week.</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://uk.airfix.com/community/airfix-club"><strong>The Airfix Club</strong></a> has long been a feature of our proud modelling tradition and in recent years, has experienced something of a triumphant rejuvenation, with membership bringing real and tangible benefits for modellers of all ages, abilities and subject preferences. One of those benefits is an exclusive Club kit, an offering which has become something of a cherished tradition within the hobby and one we’re proud to continue with this year’s package.</p><p>In this latest edition of Workbench, we will be taking this opportunity to introduce our readers to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://uk.airfix.com/products/airfix-club-membership-2026-uk-nclubairfixplus2026"><strong>the latest Airfix Club kit,</strong></a> one which is intended to mark a significant anniversary occasion for one of Europe’s most compelling air forces, and two aircraft types which span 65 years of Swedish Air Force service.</p><p>Please join us as we get airborne with the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://uk.airfix.com/products/airfix-club-membership-2026-uk-nclubairfixplus2026"><strong>Airfix Club kit for 2026</strong></a> and our scale tribute to the centenary celebrations of the Svenska Flygvapnet.</p>