New Arrivals | Academy
The latest arrivals at the Bachmann warehouse include four new releases, seventy eight restocked items.
44-page full-colour catalogue (including covers). This edition includes a tribute to the late Soon-Hwan Kim, founder of the Academy company, who passed away in March 2025.
The 2026 range comprises Aircraft, Armour, Ships, and Da Vinci Series, illustrated with kit Academy’s familiar box top images, plus there’s an introduction to the company. Product No. PKAY00026
Iran Air Force F-14A “IRIAF” Fighter Aircraft
Iran acquired 79 F-14A Tomcats in the 1970s, along with AIM-54A Phoenix missiles and full support packages, to counter Soviet MiG-25 intelligence gathering flights. Following the 1979 revolution and subsequent U.S. embargo, the Iranian Air Force maintained the fleet through cannibalisation, local manufacturing, and reverse-engineering. It is estimated 20–25 remain airworthy.
Swing-wings can be built to maximum sweep or minimum sweep. Choice of 5 markings: 4 Iranian AF and 1 US Navy scheme.
1:72 scale plastic model kit from Academy, requires paint and glue. Product No. PKAY12594
US Air Force C-54 Skymaster Transport Aircraft
The Douglas C-54 Skymaster was a four-engine transport aircraft developed from the civilian DC-4, designed to provide long-range heavy transport for the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War Two. Used extensively in the Pacific, European, and China-Burma-India theatres, transporting troops, equipment, and fuel, often over hostile territory.
After the war the C-54 flew sustained high-frequency supply missions in the Berlin Airlift, along with Douglas Dakota, Avro York and Short Sunderland types, and formed the basis for later long-range transport designs.
Reissued Minicraft kit. 4 sprues plus clear parts. Choice of markings for 6 aircraft:
(1) C-54 of the ATC (Air Transport Command), USAF, 1943.
(2) C-54 of the ATC (Air Transport Command), USAF, 1944-45.
(3) VC-54C Sacred Cow, the first U.S. presidential aircraft, used for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s flight to the Yalta Conference in Crimea in 1945.
(4) C-54B EW-999 (43-14126), used for the flight of the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Sir Winston Churchill, to the Yalta Conference in 1945.
(5) VC-54E 44-9027, “Bataan II”, personal flight of 1st Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, General Douglas McArthur, used for his arrival in Japan, 1945.
(6) Air America, C-54G N2168, operated on regional missions between Korea, Japan, and Vietnam during the early 1960s.
1:144 scale plastic model kit from Academy, requires paint and glue. Product No. PKAY12652
British Royal Navy Sea Harrier FRS.1 V/STOL Strike Fighter
The British Aerospace Sea Harrier FRS.1 (Fighter, Reconnaissance, Strike, Mk 1) entered service with the Fleet Air Arm in 1978 as a unique solution to providing fighter cover from light aircraft carriers. Unlike conventional naval aircraft, the Sea Harrier used vectored-thrust nozzles to achieve short take-offs and vertical landings, removing the need for catapults or arrestor wires.
The type’s finest hour came during the Falklands War of 1982. Armed with AIM-9L Sidewinders and equipped with Blue Fox radar for target detection, twenty-eight Sea Harriers from 800, 801, and reformed 809 Naval Air Squadrons deployed on HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible, supported by ten Harrier GR.3s from RAF No. 1 (F) Squadron, provided the UK’s only fleet air defence.
Despite early doubts about their limited radar and modest speed, the Sea Harriers proved decisive, achieving twenty confirmed air-to-air kills against Argentine fighters and attack aircraft, without loss in aerial combat. They also flew hundreds of sorties on strike and patrol duties, often in harsh weather and at the limits of their endurance.
The Sea Harrier’s effectiveness in the South Atlantic silenced critics and earned it a reputation as one of the most effective and adaptable naval fighters of its era. Its performance was a decisive factor in securing British victory, and the FRS.1 remains forever associated with the Falklands campaign.
Reissued Minicraft kit. 2 sprues plus clear parts. Choice of 2 markings: (1) Sea Harrier FRS.1 XZ451, 801 NAS, HMS Invincible, Falklands Conflict 1982; (2) Sea Harrier FRS.1 XZ457, 800 NAS, HMS Hermes, Falklands Conflict 1982.
1:144 scale plastic model kit from Academy, requires paint and glue. Product No. PKAY12657
