What to expect for 2012 in the Scale Aircraft Modelling World

Lists have been popping up all over the internet with all the novelties that can be expected over the next 12 months. Lot of news in 1/32, 1/48 and 1/72, and just like in 2011, it mainly are large kits that will hit the shelves in 2012.
Going over the lists, we looked for kits that could carry Belgian liveries. This is what we found:

1/32:
-    F-104G Starfighter (Italeri); we live in hope! A lot has been said about this kit (that was previously announced for 2011); is it a new mold, a re-re-release of something old, ... Wait and see!

-    Mosquito (Wing XL); This Dutch brand is working very hard to release its first couple of kits. The Mosquito probably won’t be the first kit of the brand (the B-26 and B-25 in the same scale will precede it), but it’s about that someone thought of a 32-scale Mossie.
1/48:

-    DH-9 (Roden): Roden recently released quite a few very nice models of not that obvious subjects. The DH-9 – of which the Belgian Airforce operated 103 aircraft – is another well chozen type. If it is as nice as the Mohawk, PC-6 or Staggerwing, we’ll probably will see a few of them at future model contests.

-    F-16 B block 15 (Kinetic): The F-16 of Kinetic is well-known by now and having built a couple, I can say that it is not the easiest F-16 around, butit is nicely detailed. This two-seat block 15 version of the Fighting Falcon is a welcome addition to the brands large listing of the type.

1/72:
-    Miles Magister (RS Models): Although only 1 aircraft of this type has been in the inventory of the Belgian Airforce, it is a nice subject for a model. In the past, RS Models released some very nice kits, so let’s hope that they will do so again with this Magister. 

-    Sea King (DML): This brand announced the release of two types of the Sea King, one of which could easily be modified to a Belgian model. With the end of the operational carreer of this helicopter in sight, this could prove to be a very interesting model indeed!

N.D.