MY AIRFIX STINGRAY

 Some photos I’ve taken of my Airfix/Lyons Maid Stingray build.

This fabled kit was only available for a short time during 1965 exclusively as a mail-away.

Stingray fans of a certain age will remember seeing the advert for the offer which appeared in several UK comics at the time. I’ve seen the ad in TV Comic, and Valiant, and most notably TV Century 21 which carried the advert every week, from issues dated July, 21^st 1965 until September 4^th 1965 prior to the offer finishing on October 31^st 1965.

I do remember sending away for one at the time, or rather my parents did. All that was required was three Sea Jet ice lolly wrappers, and a 6/- postal order.

I can still remember assembling and attempting to paint it. At the time I thought it was a perfect representation of the WASP super sub! However, thinking about it now, it would have probably been covered in finger marks from an over use of plastic kit cement, and the paint job would have owed more to abstract rather than accuracy!

Unsurprisingly, it’s considered a fairly rare sought after item of vintage Stingray merchandise by collectors. However, it spite of that assumption and the fact the model appeared fleetingly nearly sixty years ago a fair number appear to have survived over the time albeit in varying degrees of condition.

I managed to get my hands on a reasonable example from a friend and fellow collector. It had been carefully de-assembled at some point and had an unspoilt, unpainted hull. It came with a replica cabin and an original display stand.

I set to work putting it together, and was pleased to find that in spite of it’s age, the kit fitted together quite well in the main, although it did need a little filler and sanding to cover the joint lines.

To anyone who’s painted any Stingray model will be well aware that it’s not a simple operation and needs some planning and a lot of masking tape!

When it comes to selecting the colours I chose the same paint scheme I used for my resin copy of the Airfix kit which I built a while back which are readily available at my local Hobbycraft. Colours I used were Revell matt yellow, matt blue, a can of Hycote Rover Pageant mid blue, and a Halfords silver.

Unlike my resin version, I’ve decided to leave this kit un-weathered for the time being.

The ‘Stingray’ and white flat top ‘3’ decals are spares I had from an old Comet Miniatures Stingray kit. They’re not perfect and are definitely showing some signs of age, but that’s probably in keeping with the kit. The original decals that would have come with the kit had the flat top 3 in black rather than white on the cabin fins. There’s no lettering for the base of the hull. Watching the show, this appears to be consistent with filming prop the kit is based on.

Although it has a slightly flatter shape compared to the other model miniatures used, the Airfix model is actually based on the original Reg Hill prototype which was also used in the series, and is easily identified as having a grey, fixed ratemaster propeller. It is usually seen travelling down the launch tube and leaving or entering the ocean door.

Back in the day the kit would have arrived in a small brown cardboard box with a sticker showing a painted illustration of Stingray (the same illustration that appeared on the Lyons Maid adverting leaflets)

The instructions, and a photo of the leaflet. Sadly I don’t have decent scans of each of these, but I thought I’d add them for illustrative purposes.

Addendum: My grateful thanks to reader, Jim Connolly, who kindly provide me with some excellent scans of the instructions and leaflet. He tells me that as far as he knows the leaflet only came with the kit.

Finally a couple of Lyons Maid Seajet and Super Seajet adverts.

P.W.O.R.