Pat C Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 My lad made the Airfix 1/600 Belfast recently and expressed an interest in getting some more to go with it. I bought the Bismark and was pretty disappointed as the mould is clearly knackered and should be put out to grass really. Can anyone advise which of the Airfix 1/600 kits would be of similar quality to the Belfast and which are better avoided? Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomastmcc Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 pat all depends on the builder and your thoughts and your point of view .. you could think the kit looks ok and others not .. i have a few that i am selling ..not wanting anymore.. thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 To be honest, I think the Belfast was the finest 1/600 ship Airfix did. You are right that the range is made up of a mixture of ancient fossils from the early 60s through to slightly younger fossils from the 80s. Of the ones roughly equivalent to Belfast in quality, I'd mention Repulse and Prinz Eugen. King George V dates from the same period and might be okay as well, but I've never owned one. The "Narvik destroyer" isn't too bad. The Hood is really old but has some surprisingly delicate mouldings eg the 4" guns. NB it represents the ship in prewar state though. Avoid Bismarck/Tirpitz, Victorious, Devonshire. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat C Posted April 21, 2014 Author Share Posted April 21, 2014 Thanks for the thoughts chaps. I also didn't realise how flipping enormous the Bismark was so Mrs not too pleased with us! Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panoz Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Might want to take a look here as well: http://www.quuxuum.org/rajens_list/shiprevs.html#Airfix And BTW the Bismarck is the worst of Airfix's ship kits... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin1980 Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 I built the Bismarck, hood and ark royal. The hood surprisingly not a bad kit, but as Seahawk said in her pre war config. The ark royal was average, but the Bismarck was horrendous, I didn't finish painting it as it was that bad, glad I didn't buy any extras. I have the Belfast in the stash, it will probably be my last airfix ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Might want to take a look here as well: http://www.quuxuum.org/rajens_list/shiprevs.html#Airfix Pretty fair resume of the Airfix range. They're slightly wrong about Prinz Eugen though: IIRC the general confiuration is correct for 1941 but the light AA armament includes a number of 40mm guns only added at the very end of the war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smyfe Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 KGV and Repulse are quite decent kits, not up to modern standards but the best of the Airfx bunch in my opinion. Warspite isn't too bad either. Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravens Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 I found their Repulse built up into quite a nice model, a few issues with fit and parts aside; and their Iron Duke wasn't too bad either. I did not especially care for their Nelson and Suffolk kits. Ross. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albeback52 Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 My lad made the Airfix 1/600 Belfast recently and expressed an interest in getting some more to go with it. I bought the Bismark and was pretty disappointed as the mould is clearly knackered and should be put out to grass really. Can anyone advise which of the Airfix 1/600 kits would be of similar quality to the Belfast and which are better avoided? Pat If, like me, your son is happy to build out of box, then I'd happily recommend these ; HMS Repulse HMS Prince of Wales HMS Warspite HMS Iron Duke Prinz Eugen HMS Manxman HMS Ajax HMS Tiger Moskva (if you can get hold of it!!) HMS Suffolk Accuracy doesn't concern me. I don't go looking for faults - especially in such a tiny scale! I'll build 'em, paint 'em, enjoy 'em! . I'm actually building HMS Hood. Given the age of the kit the detail is surprisingly fine in places but,fit of parts is not good. Like Bismarck, I think it's time it was given an honourable retirement.In fact, maybe the whole range is now due for retooling? Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat C Posted April 21, 2014 Author Share Posted April 21, 2014 Thanks for all the tips guys. Might have a look out for the Repulse and maybe Prinz Eugen to accompany the now finished Bismarck!! Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomastmcc Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Thanks for all the tips guys. Might have a look out for the Repulse and maybe Prinz Eugen to accompany the now finished Bismarck!! Pat check out ebay and places like kingkit models pat.. thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 I've built the Hood, Warspite, Nelson, Repulse, Ark Royal, Cossack, Hotspur, Cambeltown, Ajax, Belfast, Leander class frigate and Fearless. I'd recommend the Repulse above all the others-the detail is great and still very crisp, and it builds into a lovely-looking kit. The Warspite and Nelson were quite nice too, on a similar level to the Ark, with the Hood fractionally less impressive. Of the cruisers, Ajax is much inferior to Belfast, with poor detail and grotty moulding quality (the guns on mine were borderline unusable) The 60s ships (Leander class and Fearless) are quite nice, the Fearless comes with a moveable rear door and lots of little landing craft. Of the WW2 destroyers I would avoid the Cossack and Cambeltown like the plague-they're 1950s (yes, 1950s!) moulds and are amongst the worst-moulded and worst-detailed kits I've ever built. Oddly, the Hotspur is much nicer, and well worth building if you can find it. They also did a German Z-class destroyer which I have unbuilt and bagged-it looks very nice, almost on a par with Repulse. You're welcome to it if you want it, PM me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbudde Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 As I'm a fan on the Arfix 600 scale I would quote so: KGV, Prinz Eugen, Belfast, Repulse and Moskwa are the best. The Scharnhorst is also very detailed as the Narvik class. The Iron Duke is very good. I had never a Rommel Kit which was called as good as the Narvik one. The rest are average (some better and some less) with the Hood in the middle. Only one exception: The Bismarck/Tirpitz. Its by far the worst of all. What a shame for the box arts. I built it once, but never again. I would pefer the old Revell definitly, because it can't be corrected in the all wrong dimensions and there is no excuse for that. The Forrestal is good for an early version. Revell reworked their molds up to a more modern later version. Here is a helpful link: http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/ships/600-index.html At least for all those the wem etched sets are essential and neccesary. P.s: Its sad for me, that 700 came to standard scale and not 600. For they had just all the right length to collect them without loosing to much space. Hope Airfix will do some new ones like they did with new planes, especially some liners and an new S.S. France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 The Scharnhorst is also very detailed as the Narvik class. Though again in prewar configuration: no Atlantic bow, no funnel cap and He 59 vice Ar 196 floatplanes. Very different from the wartime look. An older kit: quite nice but not really in the First Division of Belfast, Repulse, KGV and Prinz Eugen. Wouldn't be too sure about the accuracy of the Moskva either: the kit came out at a time when not too much had been released publicly on her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Rogers Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 They can be made up into very nice models, there's a French modeller comes on her called Remy (forum name 'Orion' I believe), does some staggering builds from these old Airfix kits. You do have to spend several times the original kits price to get the gear needed though to be fair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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