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Airfix 2018 range announcement due 10.00 09/01/2018


Stephen

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Please don't take this the wrong way................ But..  

If sexy artwork is all it takes to get the Airfix board to sign off on the next set of new moulds, then why don't we all crowd fund Adam Tooby to paint the most exotic Hunter and Venom paintings he can think of!! Personally, I think it's more than that. From what I see, the Artwork is usually one of the last components of the overall model package created. If it was designed up front, why do we need to wait to see this months after the CAD's have been released? - it just does not add up to me.

 

If I was an Airfix Board member with good business acumen but no idea what the difference is between an aileron to an elevator, I would hardly think that an artists impression of a Supermarine Walrus would stir up my blood with any sence of excitement, yet from all unconfirmed reports this kit is selling like hotcakes?

 

Cheers.. Dave (who for the record also likes a good piece of art - like the Firedog Beaufighter).       

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13 hours ago, Ratch said:

They reckon us serious modellers make up only 15% of their market

I hope they are correct in those numbers for their sake - modelers can exist without Airfix, but Airfix cant exist without modellers...and children and their parents a'rnt exactly queing up to throw money at the hobby (this will only get worse: im in my 30s and modelling was niche when I was a kid!)

 

For me the perfect "synergy kit" was the F-51D - recognisable and buildable for the novice, ticked all the boxes for a "serious" modeller with flaps, detail, accuracy, armament....I dont know how many I bought, but I keep finding em in the stash!

 

With that concept in mind a spit ix with lots of options in the box (wing armament etc) would be good for the novice,  and give a reason for expirenced modelers to buy dozens for all the fun of kitbashing etc....

 

Unfortunately on that note eduard bet them to the field with their spit and the "raw sprue" kits (forget the name) mean im pretty set for life,

 

Dont get me wrong though; I hope they can pull out a winner!!!

 

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Marketing isn't just about the box-art. Even non-modeller marketing managers will be more concerned about questions like how much of the new range should be aimed at kids and how much at specialist modellers. This isn't just about the relative pricing and margins, it also affects their chances of being stocked on the high street.

 

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1 hour ago, Modelraynz said:

I hope they are correct in those numbers for their sake - modelers can exist without Airfix, but Airfix cant exist without modellers...and children and their parents a'rnt exactly queing up to throw money at the hobby (this will only get worse: im in my 30s and modelling was niche when I was a kid!)

 

In the UK (at least) every kit (to a non-modeller) is an Airfix kit. Auntie Flo, when she buys little Johnny a present, buys a nice red Airfix box because if it ain't Airfix its no good. They are ignorant of other brands. They probably don't even look at those blue boxes because they don't say Airfix - I've been in Hobbycraft and overheard such conversations between parent and child.

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2 hours ago, Modelraynz said:

 

Unfortunately on that note eduard bet them to the field with their spit and the "raw sprue" kits (forget the name) mean im pretty set for life,

 

Overtrees

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The devil in me is hoping whatever it is has some nice black crosses on it, how about a nice 1/24 Bf109 G6.

Whatever a few on here think about it, it would sure make a lot of cash for Airfix.

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1 hour ago, tank152 said:

The devil in me is hoping whatever it is has some nice black crosses on it, how about a nice 1/24 Bf109 G6.

Whatever a few on here think about it, it would sure make a lot of cash for Airfix.

Maybe but not in this RAF Centenary year methinks. However after the last couple an adversary would be good.

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Mmm. Being a bit of a 1/24 nut, if there ever were to be a new 1/24 Airfix Luftwaffe type, I'd be praying for either a new 109E, 109F, 262 or 190A-8. I know they're not perfect, but I've already got a Trumpeter 109G and 109K in the stash. If I were in Loopy La La Cloud Cuckoo Land (which I am), then I'd love a 1/24 Heinkel 51....but that isn't going to happen.

 

Gosh! They must be up there in Airfix Towers reading all of this and laughing like the Smash robots!

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On 28/12/2017 at 7:21 PM, noelh said:

Well I noted after clicking the coming soon link in the email from Airfix. This:

https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/shop/coming-soon/2018-airfix-catalogue.html

 

Note the blank cover, which to me implies something as yet unannounced is to feature. 

 

But What? I still think Sopwith Camel perhaps as part of an RAF 100th special issue. 

Does anyone have a contact in the printer Airfix uses for their catalogue?:think:

Looks like it’s going to be bumper year for Airfix, what with their “dozens of new releases”.... 🤨

 

Graham

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28 minutes ago, fightersweep said:

Mmm. Being a bit of a 1/24 nut, if there ever were to be a new 1/24 Airfix Luftwaffe type, I'd be praying for either a new 109E, 109F, 262 or 190A-8. I know they're not perfect, but I've already got a Trumpeter 109G and 109K in the stash. If I were in Loopy La La Cloud Cuckoo Land (which I am), then I'd love a 1/24 Heinkel 51....but that isn't going to happen.

 

Gosh! They must be up there in Airfix Towers reading all of this and laughing like the Smash robots!

For those members of the younger persuasion here are the Smash Robots.

 

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6 hours ago, Ratch said:

In the UK (at least) every kit (to a non-modeller) is an Airfix kit. Auntie Flo, when she buys little Johnny a present, buys a nice red Airfix box because if it ain't Airfix its no good. They are ignorant of other brands. They probably don't even look at those blue boxes because they don't say Airfix - I've been in Hobbycraft and overheard such conversations between parent and child.

 

Indeed. Have a have a look at the reviews on Amazon for Airfix kits.

 

Lots of 'why is there no paint and glue in the box?', 'it has too many small parts', 'I had fun sticking it together with my grandson' etc.

 

And only the very occasional 'this is the re-tooled version but they still managed to get the contours of the engine cowling wrong'..

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, GrahamS said:

Looks like it’s going to be bumper year for Airfix, what with their “dozens of new releases”.... 🤨

 

Graham

But how many of the dozens of releases are going to be retreads - even the more recent 'new tool' kits that were pulled for a while.

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18 hours ago, Ratch said:

In the UK (at least) every kit (to a non-modeller) is an Airfix kit. Auntie Flo, when she buys little Johnny a present, buys a nice red Airfix box because if it ain't Airfix its no good. They are ignorant of other brands. They probably don't even look at those blue boxes because they don't say Airfix - I've been in Hobbycraft and overheard such conversations between parent and child.

That great they have brand saturation in the home market :-)  but from the numbers a couple of pages back IIRC the domestic UK  market makes up around 44% of sales, it'l be interesting to see their strategy with the new releases; should be RAF-heavy with the centennary, which id be hopping will give a boost to domestic revenue percentage this financial

 

As pointed out it should be all done in dusted from their end ages ago, all thats left is the reveal ;-)

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RAF Centenary.... my somewhat cynical prediction would be a box set of eg 5 models, most likely Camel, Spitfire, Harrier, Eurofighter and one other...just like every other anniversary set... possibly priced at £100 coz it's the centenary :)

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They might even re-release their recent Canberra kit.

 

My prediction for a RAF box set Camel, Bulldog, Spitfire, Canberra, Harrier and Typhoon.

 

Robert

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18 hours ago, GrahamS said:

Looks like it’s going to be bumper year for Airfix, what with their “dozens of new releases”.... 🤨

 

Graham

I suspect that what it should really say is "dozens of new RE- releases". I can live with that. I don't expect a flood of new subjects though. Other than that, I make no predictions. Content to wait and see.

 

Allan

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On the re-release issue.

 

Many of the newer Airfix kits have "variations on a theme" in the mouldings . Eg the 1/48 Hurricane can be made into a number of variants from the sprues available.

 

Good common sense forward planning and cost effective on Airfix's part.

 

What can we hope to see here ??

 

Dick

 

 

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51 minutes ago, jenko said:

On the re-release issue.

 

Many of the newer Airfix kits have "variations on a theme" in the mouldings . Eg the 1/48 Hurricane can be made into a number of variants from the sprues available.

 

Good common sense forward planning and cost effective on Airfix's part.

 

What can we hope to see here ??

 

Dick

 

 

My own personal hopes would be for the Valiant ( I need several at sensible price to go with my Valiant B2 conversion and Airfix PR/Tanker conversion!!!!), Sea Vixen and Javelin. Plenty other I could name bit, leave it at that for now!

 

Allan

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1 hour ago, jenko said:

On the re-release issue.

 

Many of the newer Airfix kits have "variations on a theme" in the mouldings . Eg the 1/48 Hurricane can be made into a number of variants from the sprues available.

 

Good common sense forward planning and cost effective on Airfix's part.

 

What can we hope to see here ??

 

Dick

 

 

 

I hope so and, I think that Airfix miss a trick not doing more of the the 'rebox with different decals' that Hasegawa do. The 1/72 Mustang, P-40  and Blenheims have been reissued with alternative markings, surely there are others that this could apply to? The Spitfire 22 springs to mind, it's not in the current catalogue but is a very recent tooling, how about re-releasing it with Rhodesian or Syrian markings?

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On another note... 

...I think I'm right in saying that Airfix Model World magazine always hits the shelf on the first Thursday of the month and the app is updated to show the new issue contents the same day...

...not this month though...

...could that mean Airfix are planning something SO BIG that the publication has been held back for a specific announcement...

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On ‎05‎/‎01‎/‎2018 at 17:15, TEXANTOMCAT said:

Hover trousers (probably with elasticated waist and tena lining for me by then) 

 

I invested a fortune in a company that was trying to develop hover cars - but they never took off :lol: 

...now where did I put my coat:coat:

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31 minutes ago, BIG X said:

On another note... 

...I think I'm right in saying that Airfix Model World magazine always hits the shelf on the first Thursday of the month and the app is updated to show the new issue contents the same day...

...not this month though...

...could that mean Airfix are planning something SO BIG that the publication has been held back for a specific announcement...

Or, it could mean nothing of the kind and, that Airfix are merely holding publication back till Tuesday anyway to enable them to include the 2018 programme?:rolleyes:.

 

Allan

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7 hours ago, Albeback52 said:

I suspect that what it should really say is "dozens of new RE- releases". I can live with that. I don't expect a flood of new subjects though. Other than that, I make no predictions. Content to wait and see.

 

Allan

Having recently being building a series of older Airfix kits what amazed me was the slenderness (and fragility) of some of the parts and sprue gates especially the Scout AH 1 compared to the modern kits. Now if Airfix could bring some of that finesse of the late 60's to their modern kits all the better. There are quite a number of long deleted kits that would be welcome by everyone other those who get upset by out of scale rivets or raised panel lines.

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5 hours ago, BIG X said:

On another note... 

...I think I'm right in saying that Airfix Model World magazine always hits the shelf on the first Thursday of the month and the app is updated to show the new issue contents the same day...

...not this month though...

...could that mean Airfix are planning something SO BIG that the publication has been held back for a specific announcement...

I was thinking the same but then I've checked the Airfix calendar. It says the new issue will appear next Thursday ( 11/01)

so I reckon the delay had to be decided at least two months ago - before calendar went to the print shop.

The same applies to February and March issues ( both on 8th). In the remaining months it's back to first Thursday of the month.

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