Jump to content

If Airfix were to re-tool more of their old kits, what should they be?


Scott_

Recommended Posts

4 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

 

the 'new tool' Mk.II was a testament to how many bad Hurricane drwaings there are.... in respectable books, EG the FK Mason ones.

 

 

Airfix have done flawed research,   I'm still annoyed that I didn't go over the 72nd fabric wing kit more closely, as they scaled up it's faults to 1/48th....

 

the big problem is the wing to fuselage join,  lacking the correct curve on the fuselage to wing access panels,  but the fuse is slightly too long., from what I can see this is in front of the fin, making the fuselage look to slim here. 

Neither of these faults are easy to correct.   While they do not jump out and scream wrong faults,  they are noticeable.  

 

In 72nd they are not as obvious as 48th. 

 

the 48th also has a weird construction method,  adding the cockpit to the lower wing has caused problems,  and poor moulding has led to fit issues on several builds here.  

 

The separate ailerons are way too thick,  and being one pice are thus hard to correct without very careful cutting, rebuilding or a replacement.

it also has balloon tyres, try fitting one through the wheel well opening to see what I mean...

the 72nd has a too high canopy, making the windscreen look off.

 

I have yet to find out if the only specific replacement for the Airfix 72nd (Rob Taurus) fixes this or just copies the problem for the replacement.

a couple of other funny glitches I found in the 72nd kits, the control column handle is closer to 1/48th,  and the seat is really narrow in width.... not immediately obvious, but once spotted,  they look very odd.

 

At this point there will be folks reading 'get a life'    but consider the above list  in  the context  a new tool Spitfire or Bf109 kit......cue  pages of flaming threads about the sky falling...

 

in the kits favour,   they have very well done fabric, no skinny cow here.  sensible use of a separate lower rear fuselage, eliminating bad joins and stuffed fabric,   very good wheel wells and UC leg detail and cockpits (apart from seat).

 

which is why I said earlier ACCURATE new tool, without silly gimmicks in 1/72nd and 1/48th

 

 

the Hase nose is fixable,  the fuselage fabric is less appealing...  but yes, hard too find, and blinkin expensive if the UK when you do.

which Revell?  the 60's era Mk.I is vile.  The MK.II's are not great.

 

While there are lots of Mk.II kits, they all have varying levels of faults,  maybe the best commonly available are the Az/Legato,  and they are limited run, and need care to get a good fit and are IIc's or IV's only.

 

The old Heller kit has very neat fabric effect, but raised lines,  and too narrow nose and too broad out wings,  from my initial hacks, fixable. againa IIc only, but if yuo correct it then changing the wing paneling is not that big a job.

 

the Academy and Revell Mk.II's have a series of difficult to correct faults,  as well as stuffing up the fuselage fabric,  which correcting is such a large job to do well

the 'new tool' Airfix IIC is maybe the worst of the lot,  having so many shape errors.

 

so.... no,   as i said earlier,  or maybe more clearly, we need an ACCURATE  and modern tooling of pretty much every Hurricane in 72nd and 48th.   something that can be built OOB without need replacement parts please.

 

Oddly enough there is a company who have done a overall accurate OOB Hurricane.... Trumpeter,  but only in 1/24th...  apart from a few small glitches and these damn trendy recessed rivets... though Hobby Boss didn't scale it down to 1/72nd  for the easy build kit, too narrow nose over engine and no real wheel wells aside it's not bad.

 

Airfix did it with the new tool 1/48th Spit Vb/I kits (apart from the sily UC leg attachment)

 

But frankly, given the companies predicament,   and the fact they have new tool 72nd and 48th Hurricanes that satisfy most,   I don't see one anytime soon from Airfix.

or anyone.  

 

poor old Hurricane,  still  overshadowed by  the more glamorous companion.... 

 

Get a life!

 

:D

 

No, you're quite right. They've got their Hurricane. And that'll do...

 

Same with a 1/72 Spit Mk Vb/c. Or Bf 109G.

 

Essential types which other's will have to provide.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also think that 1/600 as a ship scale is finished. 1/350 and 1/700 seem to work well so Airfix would do well to stick with it. As posted above specialisation would be a very smart move.

Another area to consider is 1/48 vehicles. Tamiya are banging them out and selling them, only in the UK are they so expensive and that isn't Tamiya's fault. Redo their OO/HO range to modern standards in 48th and I think they'll hit the market just as the scale takes off. Obviously don't release items Tamiya have already done, that would be silly. 48th airfield sets and Centurion would be a decent start. Lots of potential there.

Some of the car kits in 24th would be great or even new ones in 32nd. There are a lot of young model-makers who would go for cars as they are very familiar.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎13‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 12:48 PM, Troy Smith said:

 

so.... no,   as i said earlier,  or maybe more clearly, we need an ACCURATE  and modern tooling of pretty much every Hurricane in 72nd and 48th.   something that can be built OOB without need replacement parts please.

 

 

Why leave at that? 

Surely the same could be said (for every version) of the Spitfire, Mosquito, Halifax and every other aircraft not forgetting the Scruggs Wonderplane!

Seriously though, there's a limit to the number of toolings of the same aircraft any manufacturer would be willing to make.  I suspect that there is something of a law of 'diminishing returns' whereby the nth Spitfire, Hurricane or whatever, sells progressively less than the first.

 

Reverting to the actual topic of the thread, it is ' ..re-tool more of their old kits..' Here Airfix seem to have a policy of 'oldest first', though I know there are exceptions.  The Wellington is surely no surprise, and other 'senior members' (all military aircraft) likely to be chosen include Lysander, P-38, Seahawk, Auster, Sunderland, Halifax, the much requested Buccaneer.  Others too have been re-tooled, notably by Eduard eg F6F, at a price/quality unlikely to be matched .

 

Sure, we all have our hopes: subjects that were good for their day, but now hard to find.  Mine is for an Avenger, but this time with folding wings.  If a 'Kate' is viable, then surely is a TBM/F, even if it isn't near the front of the 'seniority' queue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, SleeperService said:

48th airfield sets and Centurion would be a decent start. Lots of potential there.

agree Nick, and posted to this effect  before.

Also, an M3 halftrack,   and a M4A4 Sherman,(with Firefly bits)   as wide British use,  the M3 halftrack has all sorts conversions based on it,

A Centurion and M3 have extensive Israeli use as well,  and middle  east armour in 48th is very under represented,  the Centurion also can be done as Vietnam Australian ... the Swedes used them as well...

I know,  the devil is in the detail, but that's careful  sprue planning.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Airfix has dabbled in 48th scale armour with the Warrior and Jackal kits and soft skins with the Albion refueling truck and Bedford truck and WMINK / Snatch Landrovers.

 

Are any of these still in the current range???

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Old tools I'd like seeing replaced should mean subjects that they have not replaced yet and, I would add, have not been well done by others..

Guess that the Buccaneer is maybe the best example, as the Airfix 1/72 kit is still the best of the bunch and the 1/48 one is the only one.

I would follow this with a few others:

Westland Scout

1/72 Javelin

Lynx AH.1/7

F-5E

And that would be almost it for me in terms of aicrafts. Sure some of the biplanes may well deserve a new tool but I know little of them. They may make a better Halifax than the Revell one, where better would mean more accurate. They may improve slightly on some other existing kits, but rather than a new Stirling that may be slighlty better than the Italeri one, I'd rather have a new tool of subjects for which there are no really good kits around, like a new 1/72 Sea Vixen or Scimitar or a Spitfire PR.XI.

 

Then I should add a type of subject that is severaly lacking: redo the post-war British tanks and AFVs but please, do it in 1/72 ! Tanks in this scale are pretty popular today and Centurions, Chieftains and Scorpions would be nice to have.

 

Edit: I had fogotten the Viggen ! I know that a new 1/72 kit has been announced but since it's not available yet I'm considering this as a subject for which a kit with Airfix's current quality would be very interesting. Of course they would have to make a proper production Viggen

 

Edited by Giorgio N
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

43 minutes ago, Giorgio N said:

Then I should add a type of subject that is severaly lacking: redo the post-war British tanks and AFVs but please, do it in 1/72 ! Tanks in this scale are pretty popular today and Centurions, Chieftains and Scorpions would be nice to have.

I prefer mine in 1/76, but yes, you're right.  It's a pity that railways (my primary interest) in this country weren't modelled in 1/72 to begin with.  There are quantities of stuff in my 'native' scale, but injection moulded kits in 1/72 vastly outnumber those in 1/76.  So I hold no hope of Airfix ever marketing a 1/76 Saracen or Centurion which are accurate.  But their Chieftain is fine - Mk. 2 fits my period of interest exactly!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

Old tools I'd like seeing replaced should mean subjects that they have not replaced yet and, I would add, have not been well done by others..

Guess that the Buccaneer is maybe the best example, as the Airfix 1/72 kit is still the best of the bunch and the 1/48 one is the only one.

I would follow this with a few others:

Westland Scout

1/72 Javelin

Lynx AH.1/7

F-5E

And that would be almost it for me in terms of aicrafts. Sure some of the biplanes may well deserve a new tool but I know little of them.

 

    FWIW, to be honest, all of the biplanes except the new BE2C are old enough that they need replacing. The worst are the Fokker Triplane, Sopwith Camel, Albatros and RE8. But to be honest, those of us who specialise in WWI stuff are probably comfortable with the many alternative offerings from other companies (although that wouldn't stop me getting some of anything new). The between the wars biplanes are much better than the old WWI efforts, although still not up to the current standard, and can be built to a good standard without that much effort. Pity the Bulldog mould is suffering wear, and it and the Demon aren't currently in production anyway.

 

    I still think it's a pity they repopped their awful Camel for the RAF centenary. Not a good kit when released, and by any measure truly awful now, it was ideal for retooling.

 

 

Paul.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 13/03/2018 at 10:39 PM, SleeperService said:

I also think that 1/600 as a ship scale is finished. 1/350 and 1/700 seem to work well so Airfix would do well to stick with it. As posted above specialisation would be a very smart move.

Another area to consider is 1/48 vehicles. Tamiya are banging them out and selling them, only in the UK are they so expensive and that isn't Tamiya's fault. Redo their OO/HO range to modern standards in 48th and I think they'll hit the market just as the scale takes off. Obviously don't release items Tamiya have already done, that would be silly. 48th airfield sets and Centurion would be a decent start. Lots of potential there.

Some of the car kits in 24th would be great or even new ones in 32nd. There are a lot of young model-makers who would go for cars as they are very familiar.

I seem to recall having this discussion about 1/76 vs. 1/72 and AFV kits.....Airfix and their diehards knew best and 1/76 would be the way forward.  We saw a decent Cromwell, a couple of Bedford trucks, a godawful Kingtiger and then.....Nothing.  :tumble:

 

Meanwhile Airfix quietly start making 1/72 vehicle kits for airfields.  :mellow:

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, Plasto said:

Airfix has dabbled in 48th scale armour with the Warrior and Jackal kits and soft skins with the Albion refueling truck and Bedford truck and WMINK / Snatch Landrovers.

 

Are any of these still in the current range???

Think the Albion and Bedford are. The Warrior is quite good but the others showed a steep learning curve for Airfix. That said they can all be built into very nice replicas. Wheels seem to be the sticking point but alternatives are available.

The 76th range was well thought through when it was launched except arguably for the Churchill which would have been better as a Mk IV/V/VI. I'd got up to about 300 different models before I discovered beer, motorbikes and girls. Repeated in 48th would be a game changer for the scale and hand Airfix a blossoming market. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If they really want to clean up the UK market, I would opt for the following:

 

1:72 Re-Tools

 

Avro Vulcan B2

Blackburn Buccaneer (S.1 and S2B)

BAC/SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1/A/3

Northrop F-5A and F-5E Tiger II

Westland Lysander

Lockheed Hudson

Consolidated PBY Catalina

P-61 Black Widow

H.P. Halifax

H.P. Hampden

SA.330 Puma HC.1

SA.341 Gazelle AH.1

Westland Scout AH.1

 

Downsize 1:48 (to 1:72)

 

Gloster Javelin

Hawker Sea Fury

 

1:48 Re-Tools

 

BAC/SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1/A/3

Blackburn Buccaneer S2B

Bristol Blenheim Mk IV (From not yet released Mk I)

DH Mosquito (both FB and Bomber variants) 

 

  

   

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...