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What's next for Airfix in 1/48?


blueliner

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They know what they are doing and will have to prove the case for each subject. Word is the Vixen sold well and I can imagine the step up that is their Javelin will do likewise. There is clearly a market for untapped post was subjects in 48th ( this is the fourth if you include TSR2)

If it were not working the money men would have pulled the plug

Roll on gannet Venoms And Meteors!

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Just one thing to remember don't write of subjects just because some other company has done one.

Airfix issued a new tool Lancaster when Revell already had one; why? Because a Revell Lancaster does not make Airfix any money!

Julien

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Not too long ago, Airfix was sorely lacking from hobby shops / outlets in my part of the USA, which seemed strange to me given the size of the US market. I even went so far to make a complaint through Airfix's website, starting a conversation where I was told that kit distribution was 'fine'. Since that poor showing, availability has steadily improved. Now, Airfix is one of the 'front runners' with good value and interesting releases. This has been a relief when it was (for example) a saga finding B.2's or just about any Canberra. Against that backdrop, when I think 'Airfix', I think of 'British' subjects that are well researched and properly fitted out. So by extension, my hopes for 'what's next' lean towards 1) 1:48 scale & 2) important, not previously kitted (or so poorly done or 'rare' as to be irrelevant) Brit types such as: the York, Halifax, Vulcan or Shackleton 'heavies', the lighter Blenheim, Firebrand or Beaufort attack aircraft, or the deHavilland 'beauties' of Vampire, DH.88 racer, Dragon Rapide or just about any of the collection of experimental wonders (think of a P.188...) Then, of course, there is the Gnat!

For me, there is little appeal to have an Airfix issue of subjects that have already been competently produced in 1:48 scale (this does *not* include necessarily include anything made by Trumpeter), such as:

F-86

Hurricane

Hawker (insert name)

MiG-(insert number)

Buccaneer or Lightning (sure they're a bit more to build, but basically nothing really wrong with 'em.)

Lancaster

B-17, B-24, etc.

This is to say nothing of the wide range of neglected British WWI, WWII and later armor (again, I'd prefer 1:48 scale but we know how that is percieved by most of armor modelers), trucks, Army vehicles and weapons systems (Bloodhound? Hmm!)

Well, my two pence... although looking at past efforts, I'd say Airfix has no trouble coming up with new projects. Too bad they haven't considered 'new tooled' & economical replacement bits for other companies' kits! Think of all the Academy Hunters that need a proper cockpit, canopy and wheels, as could be properly engineered by Airfix craftsmen & sold in packs of four, or alternatively - conversion kits. If the cottage industry can do it, why not Airfix?

Regards, Robert

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If the cottage industry can do it, why not Airfix?

Because the manufacturing techniques used by the cottage industry are very different from those used by the big boys. Anything made in injected plastic requires an upfront investment that only makes sense if the product in sold in large numbers, as airfix plastic kits are. For anything that is likely to sell in small numbers, as all aftermarket parts are, resin is a cheaper way of doing it. Of course Airfix did a conversion for the valiant and there are a few update sets around in injected plastic... but these are exceptions

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Because the manufacturing techniques used by the cottage industry are very different from those used by the big boys. Anything made in injected plastic requires an upfront investment that only makes sense if the product in sold in large numbers, as airfix plastic kits are. For anything that is likely to sell in small numbers, as all aftermarket parts are, resin is a cheaper way of doing it. Of course Airfix did a conversion for the valiant and there are a few update sets around in injected plastic... but these are exceptions

Good point. Just look at Monogram's PBY and Ju-52. Beautiful kits but not money makers for Revellogram by a long shot.

I have multiples of both, but I won 2 of each in kit raffles. They take up a lot of shelf space too so I'm glad to have the room for them.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Right then,

When will Airfix bite the bullet and release 1/48 kits of the Supermarine Scimitar and Swift????

A 1/72 scale Hastings, Britannia and Comet 4C wouldn't go amiss either

XVTonker :pilot:

Hopefully long after they've done a Beaufighter, Tempest,Phantom K/M, Venom, Hunter F.4/T.7, Vampire single seater, Meteor F.8, Spitfire 14/18 and Gnat (most of these in 1/72nd as well as in 1/48th except of course the sublime Gnat) before any of the Supermarine fat knackers! In fact, I'd want them to do an R84F/RF84F and F86D (the latter in 1/72nd) first!

Wez

Edited by Wez
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As usual, I didn't make my point clear (even to myself.) I am talking about leveraging components from existing production kits as *aftermarket* for other companies kits as is exactly done by Trumpeter - for example. Another twist is from Williams Brothers, which produces a fine range of 1/32 scale engines which are straight out of their kits and useful replacements in other less well detailed kits. Taken further, consider the idea of a designed-in capability to separate a mold into blocks just for the purpose of targeting the shortcomings of a competitor's kits. So, if Airfix were to produce the penultimate Hunter in 1/48, in direct competition with the decidedly quirky Academy effort, might they not be able to design it so the landing gear, cockpit components and canopy could be direct replacements for the *Academy* parts? Would this hurt the sales of the Airfix kit? Possibly - it probably depends on just what would be the price-point of the Airfix effort. If a complete Airfix Hunter could be had for say, 60% of the Academy kit, and the Academy kit plus Airfix AM at 120% of straight Academy, then I suspect their sales would be fine. Again, the target for this strategy would be the established modeler with a significant investment in the ol' loft insulation. My wondering is whether Airfix (or any 'mainstream' manufacturer) can successfully tap into that smoldering upgrade market. Hey, it certainly keeps Eduard busy (granted, the design and production of PE bits is much less capital intensive, probably accounting for their incomprehensible range of product...)

I would contest whether cottage industry production methods may be more economical (yes, I know they are different!), since they involve so much hand labor and short-life tooling that must be redone over and over again, when spread over any significant production run. Obviously, it depends on production volume, but I think the days of very high unit production for injection molded kits is dead and consequently, there isn't so much difference between Cottage and Major manufacturers goals anymore. Modelers of a certain age (my demographic!) keep the "truth" that, for a plastic kit, the 'huge' investment will be spread over hundreds of thousands of units. P-shaw! It isn't rocket science to understand why the current crop of kits are coming in at 50-60 USD and up. All that the makers have to do is look at their sales projections and apply that to their investment, production and profit margins to come up with the unit MSR (with the distributors cut then piled on top.) While tooling and design costs have certainly gone down (through automation) and raw material & delivery values have gone up, the biggest hit has been the fact that the once huge North American and European modeling 'markets' have rendered down to primarily a 'bunch of aging white guys'. A shrinking market is driving the rise in costs, which unfortunately causes even further shrinkage! How the Chinese makers continue to roll out release after release, I don't know. (Three different kits pending for the same singlular, weird prototype armored vehicle?) Production levels are no longer on par with appliance makers, instead they are dipping down towards to the wood ship kit producers - well, not quite there yet!

In any case, my 'wagging of the digital tongue' is certainly of little consequence since the hobby is as complex as the entire community makes it. I just wondered if dear old Airfix (which is now I understand staffed by the very young!) had pondered the idea of, under the right conditions, getting into their competitor's knickers - so to speak. Having some professionals go at the problem (and not just one & two man operations which flash in the pan) seems like it might just work. It is already a half-proven paradigm and can they afford to ignore *any* possible revenue stream?

On a side note, unless industry and the 'kit users' make a concerted effort to get a new crop of 'plastic addicts' hooked, we are looking at the end of plastic modeling as we know it. Even now, I suspect the growing Chinese middle class may be keeping the rest of us afloat - assuming they have more free time to go with their increasing wages. Most of the 'new members' I see coming into our local clubs are maturing guys looking for some age-appropriate recreation. Very few youngsters - if any - ever show up. Sadly, too many little screens (like the one I'm looking at now) take up their free time. Entertainment programming, gaming, social media - it all takes time that could be spent reading a book (even that is being taken from us!) or doing some hand-craft. This is the true insidious challenge. The rest of what we 'see' are just the symptoms. It is almost like the "Silence"!

The only tiny bright spot is when I do get kids in a room to do some modeling, they really get a kick out of it. Doing stuff with one's hands is unquestionably fun. But if they cannot afford it...? I know I'm not likely to spend 30-50 USD on a new kit for my kid to 'whack about' so off to the second hand market it is - which hurts the folks selling the new stuff. Airfix is ahead in this regard, with many of even their new tool kits being very reasonably priced - a least by comparison.

Whoa, Nelly! Got to run.

Regards, Robert

(BTW, Blueliner what makes you think those kits weren't "money makers"? I suspect most every 1/48 scale modeler and many others have at least one and probably more in their piles... whether they build them or not, they certainly *want* to build them!)

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As usual, I didn't make my point clear (even to myself.) I am talking about leveraging components from existing production kits as *aftermarket* for other companies kits as is exactly done by Trumpeter - for example. Another twist is from Williams Brothers, which produces a fine range of 1/32 scale engines which are straight out of their kits and useful replacements in other less well detailed kits. Taken further, consider the idea of a designed-in capability to separate a mold into blocks just for the purpose of targeting the shortcomings of a competitor's kits. So, if Airfix were to produce the penultimate Hunter in 1/48, in direct competition with the decidedly quirky Academy effort, might they not be able to design it so the landing gear, cockpit components and canopy could be direct replacements for the *Academy* parts? Would this hurt the sales of the Airfix kit? Possibly - it probably depends on just what would be the price-point of the Airfix effort. If a complete Airfix Hunter could be had for say, 60% of the Academy kit, and the Academy kit plus Airfix AM at 120% of straight Academy, then I suspect their sales would be fine. Again, the target for this strategy would be the established modeler with a significant investment in the ol' loft insulation. My wondering is whether Airfix (or any 'mainstream' manufacturer) can successfully tap into that smoldering upgrade market. Hey, it certainly keeps Eduard busy (granted, the design and production of PE bits is much less capital intensive, probably accounting for their incomprehensible range of product...)

I would contest whether cottage industry production methods may be more economical (yes, I know they are different!), since they involve so much hand labor and short-life tooling that must be redone over and over again, when spread over any significant production run. Obviously, it depends on production volume, but I think the days of very high unit production for injection molded kits is dead and consequently, there isn't so much difference between Cottage and Major manufacturers goals anymore. Modelers of a certain age (my demographic!) keep the "truth" that, for a plastic kit, the 'huge' investment will be spread over hundreds of thousands of units. P-shaw! It isn't rocket science to understand why the current crop of kits are coming in at 50-60 USD and up. All that the makers have to do is look at their sales projections and apply that to their investment, production and profit margins to come up with the unit MSR (with the distributors cut then piled on top.) While tooling and design costs have certainly gone down (through automation) and raw material & delivery values have gone up, the biggest hit has been the fact that the once huge North American and European modeling 'markets' have rendered down to primarily a 'bunch of aging white guys'. A shrinking market is driving the rise in costs, which unfortunately causes even further shrinkage! How the Chinese makers continue to roll out release after release, I don't know. (Three different kits pending for the same singlular, weird prototype armored vehicle?) Production levels are no longer on par with appliance makers, instead they are dipping down towards to the wood ship kit producers - well, not quite there yet!

In any case, my 'wagging of the digital tongue' is certainly of little consequence since the hobby is as complex as the entire community makes it. I just wondered if dear old Airfix (which is now I understand staffed by the very young!) had pondered the idea of, under the right conditions, getting into their competitor's knickers - so to speak. Having some professionals go at the problem (and not just one & two man operations which flash in the pan) seems like it might just work. It is already a half-proven paradigm and can they afford to ignore *any* possible revenue stream?

On a side note, unless industry and the 'kit users' make a concerted effort to get a new crop of 'plastic addicts' hooked, we are looking at the end of plastic modeling as we know it. Even now, I suspect the growing Chinese middle class may be keeping the rest of us afloat - assuming they have more free time to go with their increasing wages. Most of the 'new members' I see coming into our local clubs are maturing guys looking for some age-appropriate recreation. Very few youngsters - if any - ever show up. Sadly, too many little screens (like the one I'm looking at now) take up their free time. Entertainment programming, gaming, social media - it all takes time that could be spent reading a book (even that is being taken from us!) or doing some hand-craft. This is the true insidious challenge. The rest of what we 'see' are just the symptoms. It is almost like the "Silence"!

The only tiny bright spot is when I do get kids in a room to do some modeling, they really get a kick out of it. Doing stuff with one's hands is unquestionably fun. But if they cannot afford it...? I know I'm not likely to spend 30-50 USD on a new kit for my kid to 'whack about' so off to the second hand market it is - which hurts the folks selling the new stuff. Airfix is ahead in this regard, with many of even their new tool kits being very reasonably priced - a least by comparison.

Whoa, Nelly! Got to run.

Regards, Robert

(BTW, Blueliner what makes you think those kits weren't "money makers"? I suspect most every 1/48 scale modeler and many others have at least one and probably more in their piles... whether they build them or not, they certainly *want* to build them!)

I really don't think. My observation came from discussions with the Monogram reps at a IPMS/USA National convention.

There are other similar statements on other websites.

And yes, I have one of each, but I'll never build them. Unfortunately I am forced into being a collector, but I've always liked the Tante Ju.

Cheers,

Jim

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Hmm Interesting posts above.

Funnily enough a 48th Ju-52 is in the queue for building soon. When that's done I have a B-17 and then a B-29 when Kitsworld do the engine names missing from the 48th sheet.

My dad is heavily into target rifle shooting, to the extent he owns a range, not many youngsters there either but there is a steady stream of middle-aged mainly guys with grown up kids, taking up hobbies as they've now got free time. Model-making is the same IMHO. May or may not have built models seriously as a youngster but drift into the hobby later as a result of father/son kit building or seeing kits at airshows and the like. I don't think model-making and a young family are compatible for most households. But it makes a good hobby for somebody with the right outlook.

I suspect many of these guys have partners who are doing the same thing with different pursuits. Certainly the local Hobbycraft always seems full of ladies with baskets full of crafty stuff. Apparently knitting is making a comeback as well.

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Why would they do a Spey Phantom??

Jennings,

I was merely trotting out my bucket list of types that needed decent, newer kits before anyone (particularly Airfix) gets around to bringing out kits of the Supermarine fat knackers!

I'd agree that there's little likelihood of an Airfix 1/48 Spey Phantom (given the cost of the recent Javelin), but I"m sire many of us would rather put money Airfix's way than Hasegawa's. In 1/72nd though there is a clear need for an accurate Spey Phantom as the Fujima kit is not without its faults or accuracy issues.

I've never understood the appeal of the Swift in particular - an aircraft that was so corpulent it needed reheat in order to compete with its nearest rival the Hunter.

All of the types I've mentioned are far more historically significant and deserving of a new kit before the Swift or Scimitar and I'm sure would have wider appeal!

Wez

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On a side note, unless industry and the 'kit users' make a concerted effort to get a new crop of 'plastic addicts' hooked, we are looking at the end of plastic modeling as we know it. Even now, I suspect the growing Chinese middle class may be keeping the rest of us afloat - assuming they have more free time to go with their increasing wages. Most of the 'new members' I see coming into our local clubs are maturing guys looking for some age-appropriate recreation. Very few youngsters - if any - ever show up. Sadly, too many little screens (like the one I'm looking at now) take up their free time. Entertainment programming, gaming, social media - it all takes time that could be spent reading a book (even that is being taken from us!) or doing some hand-craft. This is the true insidious challenge. The rest of what we 'see' are just the symptoms. It is almost like the "Silence"!

The only tiny bright spot is when I do get kids in a room to do some modeling, they really get a kick out of it. Doing stuff with one's hands is unquestionably fun. But if they cannot afford it...? I know I'm not likely to spend 30-50 USD on a new kit for my kid to 'whack about' so off to the second hand market it is - which hurts the folks selling the new stuff. Airfix is ahead in this regard, with many of even their new tool kits being very reasonably priced - a least by comparison.

I for one am really glad to see this post, I was beginning to feel like a minority of one in that I'm not obsessed by chasing kids. As a loner of a certain age I can see it creating an unwelcome picture in the mind of many. Speaking personally, if I was a new recruit to the social side of the hobby, I would be really put off by going to a club meeting to find that I was outnumbered four or five-to-one by kids in the eight-to-twelve age bracket. On the other hand, I can quite understand the parent of a child modeller being equally put off if they escorted their offspring to a model meeting just to find a room filled with leery looking middle aged men eyeing up the newcomers.

In the world I've drawn above I think that any club has got its work cut out if it is to present as many acceptable faces as possible to possible newcomers, but I'm sure it's within the abilities of the best of them.

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Well a Gnat in 1/48 is my longtime favourite on my personal Airfixwishlist. But a Beaufighter, that's a wonderful idea too, indeed!! In 1/48th scale then, please!

Thank you in advance (...) :winkgrin:

Richard

Edited by RHWinter
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I`d love a Scimitar and Swift and as we`re in the Cold War section I`ll forgo my WW2 `wants' (Beaufighter,...although this was used Post War!) and say that I`d love to see Airfix do a new Sea Fury, either in 1/72nd or 1/48th,..either would be very welcome!

Cheers

Tony O

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In 1/72nd though there is a clear need for an accurate Spey Phantom as the Fujima kit is not without its faults or accuracy issues.

I've never understood the appeal of the Swift in particular - an aircraft that was so corpulent it needed reheat in order to compete with its nearest rival the Hunter.

Ditto on the Swift, an abject failure in it's initial design role, and violator of the "looks right/flies right" principle. The nose looks like it has been taxied into something, and the fin looks like it is from another aircraft altogether among other things.

Agreed on the need for a 1/72 Spey Phantom that isn't Fujimi, Hasegawa or Matchbox.

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