Old Airfix Kits

[colsom]

I've been hunting around eBay for kits. I'm relatively new to this fascinating hobby having not touched a kit for nearly 40 years so need something to practice airbrushing in particular along with all the other skills I keep discovering here and on Youtube. I have 4 large Airfix kits that I don't want to ruin. I keep seeing kits that are 30 and 40 years old most of which are ridiculously overpriced but every so often there's what appears to be a bargain. Are these kits, which are marked as unopened, any different to the equivalent kits available today or am I going to find them poor quality? To be honest the quality wouldn't worry me too much as all I need is something that won't matter if it gets messed up.    

 

Thanks,

 

Colin.

[Graham Boak]

If you are looking just for something to "play" with  then by all means buy a bargain.  Generally they will appear of lower quality than current releases, but if you're mainly interested in airbrushing practice this doesn't matter.  If you can afford it go for it - what have you got to lose?

[colsom]

Ask my wife. She'll give you a long list lol.  Many thanks.

[TallBlondJohn]

Some of the old kits will be pricey if they are collectors items - original box etc. If you want to build an Airfix that hasn't been re-tooled then an old issue can have better casting - during the Heller ownership era Airfix switched to softer plastic to eke out the life of the moulds and there is a noticeable difference in detail crispness and general quality between say a pre-Heller 1/600 Belfast and a later one.

 

However on any old kit you have to expect the decals to be yellowed if they are usable at all.

 

 

[Work In Progress]

If you want practice pieces I would say the very best plan is to pick up things at model shows where they tend to be better priced than on eBay. Another good source in KingKit who via his online shop often has multiple decent obsolescent items on sale at good prices.

 

Personal recommendations; Otaki / Arii 1/48 Hellcats and Corsairs, also any of the 1/72 Hasegawa ww2 fighters which are really expensive new but can be had for a fiver or less in the old boxes. P-51D, Hellcat, P-40E/N, Thunderbolt etc,. Also the old-tool Airfix 1/48 Hurricane, Bf109F, Stuka. 

 

All of these are simpler than modern kits but easy to build, look nice and get you quickl to the painting stage.

 

You may find the decals to be beyond use in genuinely old examples of kits, but the plastic is often better than on late rreleases of the same moulds.

[old thumper]

A lot of ebay sellers want funny money for old kits. I get my old Airfix and Matchbox kits from shows at a fraction of the price, for example the old Airfix P-38F kit is normally about a fiver at shows while £10 to £20 on ebay (inc postage).

[Greenshirt]

Here in the US most kits from the 70s or earlier go for less than $5 USD at shows. Online they go for $20-50 because they are listed as "rare". They're not as most are readily available. 

 

As noted above, the difference between the older kits and today's are the age/wear of the molds. Those older kits actually are crisp and look as new as modern kits, albeit usually with little detail but lots of raised rivets and panel lines. For the price they make great kits to practice and learn from. 

[woody37]

The big difference you will find with old airfix kits is the quality of the clear parts. They were generally nothing more than transparent blobs which can generally be replaced with the great Falcon vac formed sets, but quite fiddly. The newer kits are much better in this respect.

[Murray]

I would say that old kits reaaaally don't reflect what the companies are making today. For example, Airfix's old tools are rough, somewhat inaccurate, not really detailed, the fit is poor etc. Whereas Airfix new tools fall together with little to no hassle. The difference between old tools and new tools is like night and day. Considering the the low cost of some new tools on eBay, I would say best to just practise on them! 

[Work In Progress]

5 minutes ago, Murrodels said:

 For example, Airfix's old tools are rough, somewhat inaccurate, not really detailed, the fit is poor etc.

 

That's true of some old-tool Airfix kits, but others are accurate and fit well. The ones I mentioned above, plus for example the 1979 Spitfire I, the F-80 and F-84F, the 1/48 Mosquito and so on.

[Britman]

Anyone near Margate wishing to grab a cheap Airfix Harrier from the Hornby shop?  Bagged and labeled  £2, FIFTY PENCE at the counter! Got one this morning and there may have been a dozen left.

[davecov]

I enjoy making the old Airfix kits that I also made during my "modelling youth" in the Sixties. A problem with the reissues that Airfix put out now is that they are using forty-fifty year old mouldings and the quality of the parts is for the most part pretty bad. I prefer to get the original boxings if I can as the parts are better moulded. As for their accuracy, I don't go there but just bung 'em together!

 

Dave

[Troy Smith]

8 hours ago, colsom said:

I've been hunting around eBay for kits. I'm relatively new to this fascinating hobby having not touched a kit for nearly 40 years so need something to practice airbrushing in particular along with all the other skills I keep discovering here and on Youtube. I have 4 large Airfix kits that I don't want to ruin. I keep seeing kits that are 30 and 40 years old most of which are ridiculously overpriced but every so often there's what appears to be a bargain. Are these kits, which are marked as unopened, any different to the equivalent kits available today or am I going to find them poor quality? To be honest the quality wouldn't worry me too much as all I need is something that won't matter if it gets messed up.    

 

Thanks,

 

Colin.

 

Try Creative Models, and look for  Hobbyboss easy build,  

http://www.creativemodels.co.uk/hobbyboss-m-20.html?filter_id=28&sort=2a

and are pretty cheap new,  note most of the WW2 fighter are £6.25,  these are  the cheapest new kits  i know of.

 

they are meant to be easy to  build, here's  what you  get

I  got a couple for the daughter which we have not done as yet.

 

Creative do free  post in the UK over £30 as well.

Also worth a look through their Weekly Specials

http://www.creativemodels.co.uk/this_weeks_specials-c-205.html

 

Note if you want a new tool well fitting kit the Trumpter and Hobby Boss are very good,  (many of  their range  are notably inaccurate,  see threads ad infintum on these)  but if you want example  of kits that are accurate and decent,  their  1/48th Me 262 and Fw 190's  are rated as very good, and  they have been on the weekly offers.

AFAIK all their kits are excellent kits, well moulded and fitting.  

 

Also,Creative distribute Eduard, and in this week  specials are things like a weekend edition Hellcat, £6.49, and will give you  an example of  what modern tooling can do

http://www.creativemodels.co.uk/eduard_kits_172_weekend_edition_hellcat_mk1-p-45577.html

Theyve had the 1/48th weekend Hellcat for under £10 as well recently.

 

which is rated as a great and accurate kit,with decent decals, and it's cheap.   Google up reviews,  see what  grabs you.

 

In general I  find Kingkit expensive, and also ebay for 'cheapies'   though ironically not for things I actually want....   i just spent a while last  night ploughing through Kingkit stock looking for cheapies as I wanted some decals (Kingkit do offer flat rate shipping in the UK of £3.50) and  found very little that I wanted,especially compared to what  can be got brand new from Creative.

 

If you can get to a  model show then it  seems bargains can be had.

 

HTH

T

[DennisTheBear]

I buy the old Airfix kits online, myself. A quick glance on Google shows that I would have to travel about 2,000 kms to get to the next model show.

 

Not complaining, mind you, there are a few good sellers on Ebay (and companies with online stores) here in Oz with very good service and reasonable prices.

 

DennisTheBear

[JWM]

If you look for something cheep and old - you may look for MisterCraft kits. Almost all their moulds are some old one by Hasegawa, Heller etc. - and the prices are really low. Range of few punds. The decals are not bad,  thought

Cheers

JWM 

[Duncan B]

Another vote for the Hobby Boss range from me. The easy assembly 1/72 kits are great value for money, well enough detailed for the scale and are ideal for someone who wants to quickly build up something to get to the painting stage (and also a cheap way to use up a stock of aftermarket decals to make a collection too). Hobby Boss's regular kits shouldn't be dismissed out of hand either as they are also great value for money with good detail and a very enjoyable build. I'm currently building a 1/48 (not my normal scale) Grumman Hellcat (not my usual subject) as a way of getting my modelling mojo back and I'm having a lot of fun.

I've got the easy assembly kits and regular HobbyBoss kits in stock along with some Airfix and Heller kits that are priced to clear if you are interested.

 

Duncan B

 

 

[Pete in Lincs]

Have a look further down Britmodeller where you will find kits for cash.

He sells part started and second hand kits at reasonable prices.

The postage may not be the cheapest but is fast and I've been

very happy with whatever I've bought from him in the past.

 

[Eric Mc]

At Farnborough Modelfest last September I bought NINE old Airfix kits for 50p each. They had instructions but some had no decals. They are nearly all 1960s mouldings so from the era when kits were relatively crude. I'm nearly finished the first one I tackled, which is the ancient 1958 mould A-4 Skyhawk. It has less than 20 parts in total!

 

If I was looking for better "old" AIrfix kits I would go for the stuff they were producing in the period 1973 to 1980. I find those kits are little gems. The main drawback for modern modellers is that panels lines are raised rather than engraved. That's never been a problem for me so I will happily build kits from that era.

 

 

I am a big fan of Hobbyboss Easy Kits. As the name suggests, assembly is easy so you can get to the painting stage very quickly. Here's a couple a built a while ago -

 

 

 

Finally, old FROG kits can make up into nice models. Many FROG kits have emerged in the four decades since the brand's demise in boxings from Eastern Europe and Russia. If you want to build a FROG based kit, go for an original FROG moulding if at all possible as the moulding will be crisper and the plastic quality better. Again, they can make quite decent little models -

 

 

 

[MDriskill]

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Edited February 12, 2017 by MDriskill
(sorry...accidental double post)

[MDriskill]

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Edited February 12, 2017 by MDriskill

[MDriskill]

A lot of great comments already!

 

I'll toss in a vote for the HobbyBoss Easy Assembly kits, tons of fun for the money and absolutely the quickest way to get to the painting stage.  Some of these are not the last word in accuracy (I'm guessing not the top concern for you at this point?)--and for some reason the WW2 prop stuff tends to not be as good as the jets--but all are crisply molded and look good when assembled.  The Bf 109G's, Fw 190D, He 162, Me 163, MiG-15, and F-86 for example are some I like.

 

Zvezda makes 3 similar 1/72 quick-build kits that are truly superb--Bf 109F, Fw 190A-4, and Yak-3.  Very accurate, inexpensive, and with astonishing detail.

 

Another pocket-money favorite of mine, often found very cheap at shows here in the States, are old Heller kits.  While their early stuff can have sketchy accuracy and soft detail, their last generations of kits from the 70's and 80's are mostly really good.  They have raised panel lines, but are accurate, thinly molded, decent-fitting, have well sculpted detail parts, and cover some unusual types as well.  Some good examples are the Arado Ar 196, Hawker Tempest, DeHavilland Vampire, Fouga Magister, PZL P.23 Karas, Caudron Simoun, SAAB J21, and SAAB Safir.

 

A Focke-Wulf Dora from HobbyBoss...

 

Edited February 15, 2017 by MDriskill

[Giorgio N]

I'm not sure I've understood completely the reason for hunting old Airfix kits on Ebay and similar websites..

If it's to buy cheap kits to improve modelling skills, then it's perfectly sound but really I'd probably use some more modern kit today. The already mentioned Hobbyboos easy-kits are also favourites of mine, they are great to use to perfect painting skills, are usually easy to build and look quite good when built. They can be found for cheap but are IMHO becoming a bit too expensive today.

Another great range is Academy's, their smaller kits are generally cheap and most are very modern kit, with good surface details and good engineering, are easy to kit and are often also well detailed. Accuracy may not be always the best, but if the modeller is not interested in this aspect they are IMHO among the best value for money around.

Speaking of prices, a number of online retailers often sell Airfix, Italeri and Revell kits at discounted prices, personally if I had to buy a cheap kit I'd buy from them rather than from Ebay. Not that there aren't bargains on Ebay, as I just bought an Academy 1/72 KF-16 (the new mould) for £u including postage

As others have said though nothing beats model shows and swap meets in terms of price on older kits (and on new ones too). It's possible to find some real bargains there and most here could make a long list of great buys

 

If the modeller is looking for old Airfix kits because he's interested in certain subjects, then things change... most Airfix kits have been in production for several years, the older boxes may be collectable and can fetch high prices on the second-hand market. Better buy a more recent issue, the kit will be the same but at a lower price. However later issues may suffer from worn mould, so in this case the earliest "affordable" issue would be the better option. At the same time older issues may have unuseable decals, if these are important then better look for a more recent issue. Bottom line, with older mould it's often a compromise.

[colsom]

Thanks everybody for all the excellent advice. Since I started the post I have looked at many outlets ad most of the time eBay is false economy. I also never realised there were so many companies making kits. Also discovered the IPMS website and found 2 or 3 shows close by in the next couple of months so will have a wander round them and hopefully pick up loads more advice and maybe a couple of cheap kits. Wife doesn't want to so got a free reign as well :))

[Knight_Flyer]

I would generally just go on ebay and look for the cheapest kit if all I wanted it for is to practice painting.  Any high priced old release Airfix is usually because the seller considers it to be a collectible item, usually out of production kits in an earlier type of boxing.

[TheRealMrEd]

Just my $.02 worth -- a LOT of the people considered to be very good modelers got theirstarts on those old Airfix kits, etc. etc. It was the experience gained thrashing about with those old kits that gave many modeler's the determination and know how to turn out many of today's masterpieces. So, I say, buy 'em and also build 'em, as well as practice painting. Their old bodies will always be good for the spares bin, and certainly can be used to practice painting upon -- as was this old Airfix B-26 used last (among many other times) working out the paint techniques that I used on my P2V-3 Neptune over in RFI.

 

 

If you want to be a Grand Chess Master, don't compete against those you can readily beat -- compete against those who are vastly better, and you will improve.

As said in Conan The Barbarian: "That which does not kill you, will make you stronger"!

 

Ed