Airfix 2018

[Neil Lambess]

5 hours ago, keefr22 said:

 

I always thought he flew his doghouse...!!

 

 

 

SOPWITH KENNEL ! ☺

Edited November 6, 2017 by Neil Lambess
Spelling

[Albeback52]

7 hours ago, grahamwalker said:

talking ofretooling there is lots to do the old cars and m/cs  warships sailing ships armour just NOT more planes

You are absolutely right but, whether we like it or not,aircraft continue to be their best selling items and, have sales figures that are likely easiest to predict. Given the state of company finances right now, Airfix (quite rightly in my opinion) will concentrate on subjects that are going to provide the greatest income.

I don't agree with all their choices but, I would rather they continue to produce subjects that might not interest me than go out of business and produce no subjects at all.

 

We all of course want what we want but it is not the  job of Airfix to cater for everybody's whims and fancies.They'll never achieve that. I think that, to a certain degree a lot of us ( myself included) are looking through rose tinted glasses back to the good old days when Airfix had such a huge, diverse range. These days are gone and, I suspect never to return. I don't just model aircraft but, Airfix is just one manufacturer amongst many. I can content myself with knowing that if I want a tank,ship,airliner or whatever else takes my fancy then I can at least get it elsewhere. Airfix will not lose any sleep because at least the money will keep rolling in from what they do produce. 

 

I genuinely hope they do expand their range of subjects but, I cannot see it happening any time soon. For now, I guess we will all have to deal with our various disappointments as and when they arise. I have absolutely no doubt that if there is a .major announcement next week, it will be greeted with howls of joy, and howls of "not another________(insert as necessary),"nothing for me", "yet again no_______(insert as necessary)in equal measure!!😉😁

[Arachnid]

3 hours ago, Albeback52 said:

You are absolutely right but, whether we like it or not,aircraft continue to be their best selling items and, have sales figures that are likely easiest to predict. Given the state of company finances right now, Airfix (quite rightly in my opinion) will concentrate on subjects that are going to provide the greatest income.

I don't agree with all their choices but, I would rather they continue to produce subjects that might not interest me than go out of business and produce no subjects at all.

 

We all of course want what we want but it is not the  job of Airfix to cater for everybody's whims and fancies.They'll never achieve that. I think that, to a certain degree a lot of us ( myself included) are looking through rose tinted glasses back to the good old days when Airfix had such a huge, diverse range. These days are gone and, I suspect never to return. I don't just model aircraft but, Airfix is just one manufacturer amongst many. I can content myself with knowing that if I want a tank,ship,airliner or whatever else takes my fancy then I can at least get it elsewhere. Airfix will not lose any sleep because at least the money will keep rolling in from what they do produce. 

 

I genuinely hope they do expand their range of subjects but, I cannot see it happening any time soon. For now, I guess we will all have to deal with our various disappointments as and when they arise. I have absolutely no doubt that if there is a .major announcement next week, it will be greeted with howls of joy, and howls of "not another________(insert as necessary),"nothing for me", "yet again no_______(insert as necessary)in equal measure!!😉😁

"Not another 1/48th Hunter"

[Paul J]

I think we will see more of the past recent years new tools back in the catalogue with new decals/markings.

[Denford]

12 hours ago, TEXANTOMCAT said:

 

The absolute no brainier would be a 1/48 Lancaster- the Tamiya kit is so long in the tooth now- would sell like hot cakes yet no one has done a replacement.

 

How do you know that?  Have you done costings, discounted cash flow and market research etc ?

 

The cost, if it ever, came would be around the £100 mark and take probably 3+ years.  Given Airfix's financial state I can't see them undertaking such a long term investment, which would also 'swallow up' design work on 2-3 much more 'worthy' subjects.  It's not a subject I can see any other manufacturer tooling with the possible exception of Trumpeter, so no harm 'leaving it'.

 

There are many, many other subjects 'so long in the tooth', that this not a valid reason to re-tool it or anything else in particular.  Because Airfix, or anyone else for that matter, has limited in resources for every subject chosen many more have to be postponed or rejected.

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Erm of course I haven’t done the costings etc. What an odd thing to say. It is my opinion and I thought it might be permissible. I imagine lots of people would have said a 1/24 Typhoon at nearly £100 or a Mosquito at £130 wouldn’t have ‘made sense’ yet they did it and it is a fact that the Typhoon sold so well it made a significant impact on Airfix’s profit margins.

 

Airfix sell shed loads of Spitfires and Lancasters. Both have been in the catalogue for many years. Having covered all the major marks of Spitfire and several marks of Lancaster it seems to me that with a rejuvenated interest in 1/48 by Airfix that a big bomber as a ‘big ticket item’ might be a good seller.

 

Thats my opinion sir. I humbly think that a 1/48 Lanc would sell well! 

[old thumper]

All this talk of Airfix releasing a Avro Lincoln kit, a lot of people seem to want one while others think it to be something that is not worth producing.

We have seen lots of manufacturers produce Lancasters and even several produce Shackleton kits over the years but I don't think a major manufacturer has ever released a Lincoln kit, maybe there is a good reason for this or maybe it is an oversight. 

In my own view yes producing a Lincoln would be a gamble, but considering the Lincolns links to the Lancaster I think it would be an odds on bet rather than one with the odds against it.  

As a purely WW2 builder would I buy a Lincoln? The answer is yes, but only so long as the price did not push much over £30.

What about if I were Airfix right now? I would probably play it safe and build up a strong catalogue of tried and proven old favorites before taking any punts such as the Lincoln. The Lincoln would certainly be kept in mind though and the sooner one is on the shelves the sooner it starts making money, also if I were Airfix I would not like to see a rival company come in with a Lincoln kit.

[Phil Gollin]

.

 

Airfix is a minor part of Hornby, and Hornby has been having problems.   It has just (? 3rd October ?) announced a new CEO who happens to also be the boss of Oxford Diecasts.  He will bring his own ideas to the board and no doubt "things will change".

 

It has been said in the past that Hornby would concentrate on the more profitable sides of its business.  For Airfix this has been interpreted as mostly concentrating on aircraft.

 

I, for one, am just hoping that the Hornby group continues to be profitable and that ANY release sells well.

 

.

[shatters]

1 minute ago, Phil Gollin said:

 

 

I, for one, am just hoping that the Hornby group continues to be profitable and that ANY release sells well.

 

.

Couldn't agree more

 

Well said sir

 

Phil

[Albeback52]

6 minutes ago, old thumper said:

All this talk of Airfix releasing a Avro Lincoln kit, a lot of people seem to want one while others think it to be something that is not worth producing.

We have seen lots of manufacturers produce Lancasters and even several produce Shackleton kits over the years but I don't think a major manufacturer has ever released a Lincoln kit, maybe there is a good reason for this or maybe it is an oversight. 

In my own view yes producing a Lincoln would be a gamble, but considering the Lincolns links to the Lancaster I think it would be an odds on bet rather than one with the odds against it.  

As a purely WW2 builder would I buy a Lincoln? The answer is yes, but only so long as the price did not push much over £30.

 

One could probably use similar arguments for or against a kit of the Avro Manchester. Granted, it was not a success but, that was no fault of the basic aeroplane which was a very sound design - look what it metamorphosed into!!! There have been less likely candidates for kit selection. As for the Lincoln? I'd love one . Was the Shackleton not actually derived from the Lincoln? Such a kit would very neatly provide the missing linc (sorry!! Awful pun!) between Lancaster and Shackleton.

 

Allan

[occa]

I have the feeling too that it could be a Lincoln in 1/72 in the near pipeline, maybe 2019 if not 2018 ...

The other possibility is like I already said A Hudson series.

 

Or maybe both haha ...

[keefr22]

1 hour ago, TEXANTOMCAT said:

it is a fact that the Typhoon sold so well it made a significant impact on Airfix’s profit margins.

 

That's interesting, where has said fact been published? I'm just curious, as (knowing absolutely nothing about Airfix's business practices) I would have thought that given the size & price of the kit they would have produced it in far smaller runs than say, the 1/72 Typhoon? and yet the original Bubbletop kit was, after a year or so, being heavily discounted to 50 quid or so by people such as Jadlam, and now, a year or so after release, the Car Door version is being sold off for £50 by Tkmaxx! And when Modelzone were still trading they were selling off the 1/24 Mossie for £30....

 

Keith

[Denford]

2 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

 

That's interesting, where has said fact been published? I'm just curious, as (knowing absolutely nothing about Airfix's business practices) I would have thought that given the size & price of the kit they would have produced it in far smaller runs than say, the 1/72 Typhoon? and yet the original Bubbletop kit was, after a year or so, being heavily discounted to 50 quid or so by people such as Jadlam, and now, a year or so after release, the Car Door version is being sold off for £50 by Tkmaxx! And when Modelzone were still trading they were selling off the 1/24 Mossie for £30....

 

Keith

A senior member of Airfix told me at one Telford that the original 1/24 Typhoon had been so tooled that a car door version could be produced if sales warranted it.  You know the rest...

[Denford]

33 minutes ago, Albeback52 said:

One could probably use similar arguments for or against a kit of the Avro Manchester. Granted, it was not a success but, that was no fault of the basic aeroplane which was a very sound design - look what it metamorphosed into!!! There have been less likely candidates for kit selection. As for the Lincoln? I'd love one . Was the Shackleton not actually derived from the Lincoln? Such a kit would very neatly provide the missing linc (sorry!! Awful pun!) between Lancaster and Shackleton.

 

Allan

Let's say that a Lincoln would be a credible (or even creditable) choice by Airfix, and probably nobody else.  So there's no rush? and perhaps something that could be tooled when matters have 'stabilised'.

Manchester: I don't think so.  May have been a sound design, sired the Lancaster, but really not much more than a footnote.  Then there's the question of reliable engineering data.

[keefr22]

1 minute ago, Denford said:

A senior member of Airfix told me at one Telford that the original 1/24 Typhoon had been so tooled that a car door version could be produced if sales warranted it.  You know the rest...

 

Well, no I don't actually! 

 

It might be that because they had planned that the car door could be easily tooled up, poor sales of the Bubbletop just meant they decided to release it anyway & release the new version to try & maximise the profit - or minimise the loss...

 

Keith

[Denford]

Not so.  I asked Simon Owen at one of his talks which subjects had done particularly well.  'Typhoon' (meaning bubble top) he replied in a tone with a note of surprise that I should even be asking.

[keefr22]

4 minutes ago, Denford said:

Not so.  I asked Simon Owen at one of his talks which subjects had done particularly well.  'Typhoon' (meaning bubble top) he replied in a tone with a note of surprise that I should even be asking.

 

I'm glad to hear it!

 

I do though think it's ironic (or amusing?) that they are still trying to sell the car door on their website at £117.99, after having flogged a pile off to Tkmaxx at a price that allows them to make a profit selling them for fifty...!! Wonder if there'll be many cheap ones at Telford... there's quite a few (both types) on e-bay too at much less than list price! 

[Phantom Phil]

On ‎02‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 8:16 PM, malpaso said:

New Airfix Calendar suggests my idea of 1/24 Camel from last Friday is further ahead than I thought!

 

Keep up chaps!

 

Still, I would have preferred a 1/24 SE5a!

Where is this calendar image?  I can't find it...

 

https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/downloads/view/index/cat/39/

[Paul J]

5 minutes ago, Phantom Phil said:

Where is this calendar image?  I can't find it...

 

https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/downloads/view/index/cat/39/

looking at the link, The first one I see is the Phantom, Will the artwork be corrected showing the fin in the right place before release!??  Everytime I see it, it turns me stomach.... just because of the fin.

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Regarding the Typhoon sales I found the link! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/11043348/Hornbys-saviour-the-99.99-Hawker-Typhoon.html

 

Im sure they sold shedloads more Spitfires but the profit margin on the Tiffie was much greater. My Dad worked in the toy industry for years for Corgi, Mettoy etc and he always said that manufacturing cost was usually 10% of retail so that’s a decent return even with retailers margins allowed for.

 

the first batch cost would have been greater including tooling  costs and R&D the later batches ie after the mould  had paid for itself would be more profitable. 

 

Regarding Airfix prices on their website does anyone remember the great fire sale held Dec 2015(?) loads of kits massively discounted. A retailer told me that the retail industry kicked off big time as they still held stock at full whack which Airfix were selling at 50% less (iirc Merlins, Op Herrick stuff) when moving their logistics operation.

 

Also earlier in the thread someone mentioned about first sales going to trade so they had guaranteed orders of first shipment. Now the readers can sell em at what they like, RRP may deliver £10 profit but they may choose to take £5/unit profit to increase sales- 

 

In sum, there is clear evidence that a big ticket items can be hugely profitable- and of course R&D would have started 3 years ago before current woes....the only ball dropped I can see was doing the Shack MR rather than AEW first allowing Revell to steal a march on the one it seems everyone ‘really’ wanted?

 

Also their prices have increased quite considerably £25-50 kits may soon outnumber the pocket money ones as the collectors rather than kids market takes over because that has more disposable income and yields greater profit margins.... 

 

But as long as they survive per prior posters comments amen to it all! 

[malpaso]

41 minutes ago, Phantom Phil said:

Where is this calendar image?  I can't find it...

 

https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/downloads/view/index/cat/39/

I was referring to the new Airfix 2018 calendar included with the latest Airfix Model World.  It arrived with subscribers last week which kicked off this bit of the discussion.

[Bonhoff]

59 minutes ago, Paul J said:

looking at the link, The first one I see is the Phantom, Will the artwork be corrected showing the fin in the right place before release!??  Everytime I see it, it turns me stomach.... just because of the fin.

 

I thought that was just my imagination when I downloaded this month's Wallpaper for my PC - Shades of the missing tailplane on the Lightning a couple of years back.

[IanC]

Lincolns aside, I would have thought a 1/72 Spitfire Vb/c and tin wing Hurricane would be safe bets for Hornby - minimal outlay and good returns?

 

 

[PhoenixII]

3 hours ago, TEXANTOMCAT said:

......................Regarding Airfix prices on their website does anyone remember the great fire sale held Dec 2015(?) loads of kits massively discounted.

A retailer told me that the retail industry kicked off big time as they still held stock at full whack which Airfix were selling at 50% less

(iirc Merlins, Op Herrick stuff) when moving their logistics operation.

 

Also earlier in the thread someone mentioned about first sales going to trade so they had guaranteed orders of first shipment.

Now the readers can sell em at what they like, RRP may deliver £10 profit but they may choose to take £5/unit profit to increase sales- 

 

....the only ball dropped I can see was doing the Shack MR rather than AEW first allowing Revell to steal a march on the one it seems everyone ‘really’ wanted?

 

But as long as they survive per prior posters comments amen to it all! 

Hi TT,

         I think the 'problem' within the trade was nobody had given them a 'heads up'.

Within retail, prices can change very quickly, and that's what happened here.

There will always be winners and losers, what made the 'pill' so bitter was those that buy direct

have a large amout of initial outlay on first order, that's why there are a lot of small / one man bands

who still buy through the wholesale trade.

 

That's the way supermarkets used to trade for decades, 'stack it high, sell it cheap!'

'Tis always better to have 10% of something than 100% of nowt!

 

My understanding with the Shackleton was an agreement with Revell (yes, opponents DO talk!) 

 

Amen Brother!!

 

Paul

 

[Britman]

OK,  my toss of the dice....... early Anson.