As Public Image Limited might have said “This is not a review” - Warlord Games Blood Red Skies aircraft

OK disclaimer \ apologetic explanation for some of what is to follow. I'm a fifty something year old English man. That means in my childhood and formative years I didn't have computers or any real technology. Children's TV consisted of an hour of Bernard Cribbins reading a story followed by guessing which of three or four stuffed toys or dolls would be hiding behind the Round Window. I had a football, bike and Airfix to fill my time. These were the heyday of the Airfix model, Hornby trains, Warlord and Commando comics and parents and grand parents from a generation who had understood and in many cases directly experienced the war.  I became almost intimately and obsessively familiar with the Spitfire, Hurricane and to a lesser extent the Me109E.  I built models of them, hung the models from the bedroom ceiling (with the Spit always just about to shoot down the Hun of course) saw pictures of them all the time, and on a few rare but joyful occasions saw them flying. They occupy a unique spot in my memory, even today, and I still avow there is no more beautiful machine than an early Spit. They are in many ways my first love. and one that has lasted.

I should also add I have no affiliation to Warlord Games. This is also not going to be one of those reviews we see in some places that gushes with enthusiasm no matter what the product. I'm too old and cynical for that.

Ok now that's over with I hope it explains some of the comments that follow in subsequent posts, because there is stuff that others may find just a bit too obsessive.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on some sample pre production resin masters of the Blood Red Skies (BRS) models due to be released in plastic over Christmas. A big thank you to the guys at Warlord for that - hope you don't regret it!

I can’t really review them as the final product will be different – at a minimum the material will be different and who’s to say what else may change? For the same reason I can’t really do a direct comparison with other models available. So what follows is more a general look at the pre production models to give you an idea of what we may eventually get and my thoughts on them in general.

The models are a Me109E, Spitfire MkII, Yak 1, A6M5 Zero and P51D  As I said these are pre production resin versions cast in a nice grey lightweight resin. They are scaled to 1:200, which means for practical reasons there will be some stuff that gets missed off a model or has to be made over scale to prevent it breaking when handled, and as gaming pieces these will get a lot of handling. I'll show them exactly as delivered, so there are still some minor flash and pour vents that will need cleaning up, so what you are getting is a warts and all "not a review". I plan to paint them and post up the results at a later date.

Here is the group shot, taken in natural daylight and with no enhancements or technical jiggery pokery. The mat they're shot on has a 1cm grid which will help give a better idea of the size of these models.

Group shot - top

Group shot - bottom 

Tomorrow I will have a much closer look at the individual models, starting with the Me109E Emil