1/72 & 1/48 - de Havilland DH.86 Express resin kit by Aircraft in Miniature (AiM) - in design - release in 2017

[Homebee]

Because of the popularity of the earlier de Havilland DH.86 Express kit, and great demand, Aircraft in Miniature Ltd has decided to produce a new all-resin kit using current CAD/CAM technology.

Source: http://www.aim72.co.uk/page6.html

To pre-order this item go to  http://www.aim72.co.uk/page174.html

 

Quote

DH 86 EXPRESS

1:72 multi-media kit

The kit contains:

• - Cast resin airframe parts
• - Cast metal detail parts
• - A vacuum formed cabin transparency  plus a spare to allow for errors
• - Silkscreen printed decals for aircraft of Imperial Airways, Qantas Empire Airways and Jersey Airways.

 

 

V.P.

 

 

 

Edited November 5, 2017 by Homebee

[JWM]

Great news! - however, decals for WWII RAAF ambulance would be nice to get in box as well...

J-W

[AMB]

I would guess the price will be a deal killer!

[Neil Lambess]

Fantastic news ! 

[hampden80]

Might have to get one and do it in Aer Lingus markings. Of course the price will be yea or nay.

 

John

[alancmlaird]

On 21/10/2016 at 0:02 AM, AMB said:

I would guess the price will be a deal killer!

As always!
I'd urge caution on the manufacturer regarding the price. Like the resin DH90 Dragonfly (literally worth its weight in gold on ebay!), when prices reach a certain level, scratch-building becomes the only sensible option - and anyway, this hobby is supposed to be fun. No fun in spending £300-odd on some moulded plastic (Brabazon anyone?) then sticking it in the stash because you're scared you'll not do your absolute best, and then having great fun building another Revell Albatros for a fiver.

That's my warning to RRR - Inspired by a Brimodeller post, I'm already well on the way to completing a scratch Dragonfly and have collected some Rapide bits n pieces plus drawing to scratch-build a DH86. I will hold off till prices are announced.

[stevehnz]

IF I could afford one, I'd struggle between trying to do one of the Kiwi ones, Union Airways I think or a RAF Middle East ambulance. I doubt though its a decision I'll have to make.

Steve.

[JWM]

I am entirley agried with  Alanmclair - therefore once I made my DH 90 out of scratch...Or rather mostly from Frog DH 88 Comet (!)

Cheers

J-W

[xvtonker]

On ‎24‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 8:17 AM, alancmlaird said:

As always!
I'd urge caution on the manufacturer regarding the price. Like the resin DH90 Dragonfly (literally worth its weight in gold on ebay!), when prices reach a certain level, scratch-building becomes the only sensible option - and anyway, this hobby is supposed to be fun. No fun in spending £300-odd on some moulded plastic (Brabazon anyone?) then sticking it in the stash because you're scared you'll not do your absolute best, and then having great fun building another Revell Albatros for a fiver.

That's my warning to RRR - Inspired by a Brimodeller post, I'm already well on the way to completing a scratch Dragonfly and have collected some Rapide bits n pieces plus drawing to scratch-build a DH86. I will hold off till prices are announced.

In answer to your comments regarding pricing, Neil Gaunt has added a very interesting article on the AIM72 website that gives a good insight into the costs involved in designing and producing the limited run kits.

 

http://www.aim72.co.uk/page185.html

 

XVTonker

[alancmlaird]

8 hours ago, xvtonker said:

In answer to your comments regarding pricing, Neil Gaunt has added a very interesting article on the AIM72 website that gives a good insight into the costs involved in designing and producing the limited run kits.

 

http://www.aim72.co.uk/page185.html

 

XVTonker

Yup. I did only advise caution. I've worked in advertising/marketing for 45 years, about a third of that in manufacturing, and a fair bit of the rest in direct marketing. There is a direct relationship between price point, perceived value, and the competition you face from other demands on disposable income, from electricity bills to Hasegawa's latest. A couple of quid on the price can make the difference between volume sales and a production run so low that the only person to make any money on the kit is the buyer who sells it later on ebay due to rarity value. I don't envy the manufacturer having to make the calculation with their own money! I wish all those low-volume manufacturers well and sincerely hope they can make enough profit to allow them to buy competitors' kits too, because they are almost always enthusiasts as well. Meanwhile I (and I suppose others) will decide whether buying a kit, or whittling a scale representation from some plastic sheet is more rewarding. 

[Neil Lambess]

Take my money now ! 

[AMB]

I think we know that resin is expensive, plus the costs of production, etc., etc. but at the end of the day, can the average modeller justify the final price the manufacturer is asking?

I splashed out on a RRR Kings Flight Airspeed Envoy as I want to build models of all the Royal Flight aircraft...put it in my stash and low and behold, RS Models have brought out an injection kit of the Envoy!  Between RS Models, Roden and A-Model, they are all filling the gaps where there are no available kits. Who knows whether a DH84 Dragon, DH86 Express or DH90 Dragonfly are in their plans for future release?

[John Martin]

Its now October 2020 tomorrow and AFAIK no DH 86 yet.  I expect that AIM may end up in a 2 horse race competition with Bat Model for first to release this kit. 

Edited September 30, 2020 by John Martin