{"id":17237,"date":"2026-01-23T10:00:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T10:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/?p=17237"},"modified":"2026-01-22T20:44:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T20:44:24","slug":"alpine-airforce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2026\/01\/alpine-airforce\/","title":{"rendered":"Alpine Airforce"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We had a couple of Swiss vessels in our Imperial Skies range for many years – so many that we don’t know how old they are ! We took them out of production a little while ago due to mould issues, but we’ve finally remastered them and can put them back on the website. The Z\u00fcrich and Neuch\u00e2tel are both cruiser sized vessels with a multi-hulled dirigible configuration. Their weaponry is mainly arrayed in side-mounted sponsons, although the new iteration of the Z\u00fcrich has also sprouted a dorsal casemate with guns arranged fore and aft. These new versions are single-piece resin castings, with the only separate part being the metal masts.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

If you’re wondering why the Neuch\u00e2tel is flying round with an Italian flag wrapped around the nose – we’ve painted the sample models with the flags of their respective cantons as markings, rather than the Swiss flag. The coat of arms of Neuch\u00e2tel looks like the Italian flag, but with a tiny white cross in the corner. If you want to collect a Swiss fleet, you can find the flags of all the cantons on Wikipedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

VAN-1501<\/a> – Z\u00fcrich class Cruiser – \u00a33.50
\nVAN-1502<\/a> – Neuch\u00e2tel class Light Cruiser – \u00a33.00<\/p>\n

These two vessels should be getting some new models to accompany them in the Swiss fleet during 2026 – so keep an eye on the website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We had a couple of Swiss vessels in our Imperial Skies range for many years – so many that we don’t know how old they are ! We took them out of production a little while ago due to mould … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"This week we've replaced our old Swiss Imperial Skies models with two","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aeronef"],"views":785,"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SwissRelease-1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p26BWy-4u1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11536,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2020\/09\/looks-like-weve-got-us-a-convoy\/","url_meta":{"origin":17237,"position":0},"title":"Looks Like We’ve Got Us a Convoy","author":"Tony","date":"September 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Today sees the release of new redesigned versions of our British Aeronef merchant vessels. The old models of the Pearless, Orama and Shillito have been replaced by new sculpts, all featuring resin hulls with metal parts - and looking much smarter with lots more detail, cargo cranes etc. The Orama,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Aeronef"","block_context":{"text":"Aeronef","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/category\/aeronef\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/BritishMerchants.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/BritishMerchants.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/BritishMerchants.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/BritishMerchants.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10847,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2020\/01\/formidable\/","url_meta":{"origin":17237,"position":1},"title":"Formidable!","author":"Tony","date":"January 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"You have to say the title in a French accent for it to work properly! Today, we've completed the redesign process for the first of the major powers of the Aeronef world. With the release of nine new escort vessels, all of the French models have been replaced with new,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Aeronef"","block_context":{"text":"Aeronef","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/category\/aeronef\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/New-Escorts.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/New-Escorts.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/New-Escorts.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/New-Escorts.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6327,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2016\/03\/hms-vanguard\/","url_meta":{"origin":17237,"position":2},"title":"HMS Vanguard","author":"Tony","date":"March 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The final preview of our new ships for Imperial Skies is the British Vanguard battleship. We've given it some slightly different armament in the form of two very large barbette weapons, plus a number of more conventional secondary turrets on the broadside. Progress has been good with these models -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Aeronef"","block_context":{"text":"Aeronef","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/category\/aeronef\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Vanguard-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Vanguard-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Vanguard-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Vanguard-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17500,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2026\/04\/in-the-nick-of-time-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":17237,"position":3},"title":"In the Nick of Time","author":"Tony","date":"April 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"We've just picked up the hire van, so we'll shortly be trekking over to Brigade HQ to load up and head off to the ExCel so set up the stand. 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