The New ADH Tiffie Book....

[mick b]

Maybe you should start putting a little away each week, then; if you look at the fuselage, it's been engineered with a future car-door version in mind.Edgar

Hi Edgar, yes it would appear so perhaps as they did with the extra Valiant option, considering the other comments here regarding the purchasing of the airfix spit at a young age I never realised I was so poor! Better start raiding the boys piggy bank!

Cheers

Mick

[nicholas mayhew]

I would be surprised if there was anything in the book that you would not find on here or LSP

These books are all churned out either before the kit's release or just as it comes out

Great commercial sense, but not great for modellers if you want information on aftermarket stuff and how to use it in your kit, as this stuff usually takes a while to come out

[deadahead]

It may just be me but I sometimes wonder about the point of this type of book.

I would have thought if someone is going to purchase a complex, expensive kit like this,or indeed the Tamiya 1/32nd kits covered by similar publications, then he/she would be of a skill level able to construct it and research colours, etc, and doesnt need a sort of monkey see, monkey do explanation?

Mick

Some of us aren't as confident of our abilities as you appear to be. Having treated myself to a Tamiya 1/32 Spit the confidence boost being to refer to a detailed build meant I was able overcome my fear screwing up a significant investment and to actually contemplate actually building the kit. I'm not a collector so I only buy kits I intend to build however when it comes to kits that cost £100 or more I can only afford one attempt.

On a general point books like the current ADH ones and the earlier Patrick Stephens series for the original Airfix 1/24 models allow the modeller to see what the model looks like built and in the case of the other ADH books conversions and suggestions for after market parts. Clearly the current one for Tiffie wont cover any aftermarket as it is out too soon but none the less getting another opinion on building the kit may well provide helpful pointers.

The original Patrick Stephens books where eye openers for me as they introduced me to what where totally new ideas for me scratchbuilding and superdetailing, not to mention starting the long running debate about Spitfire interior colours (especially when involves mixing a long discontinued Humbrol colour!). Theres even the Mosquito book which had no Airfix kit to go with it.

Edited July 27, 2014 by deadahead

[charley420]

In the quest for knowledge even being re taught what we think we already know can be lesson enough.

[FalkeEins]

..got my copy.. nice to have, but certainly not essential. Given the astounding quality of the kit I doubt many will be scratching or even 'super-detailing' - its already in the box. There are no pics of hovering airbrushes in the ADH book. But only two pages of period photos, reproduced small, Hendon detail shots useful though. Some of the material appears to have been previously published ( 72nd/48th Typhoon kit review..)

Edited August 4, 2014 by FalkeEins

[dambuster]

My comments as posted in the thread Magazines and Books:

I was slightly disappointed with this book. It is titled 'How to build.... Airfix 1/24 Hawker Typhoon' so why is Chapter 3 basically an in box review, complete with sprue pics and Chapter 2 devoted to other models in other scales? These take up some14 pages (close to 20%) which could have been devoted to more close ups of the real aircraft. Alternatively, they could have been removed for a 20% price cut.....

Compare this with the Airframe Constructor book on building the ZM He-219 in which all content is devoted to the build except for 3-4 pages on Accessories and decals.

Peter

Edited by dambuster, 01 August 2014 - 05:57 PM.

[Troy Smith]

Its a pity then that everyone wasnt like you and had enough money from whatever source to afford a 1/24th spit aged 10! With the current state of the hobby I cant see many of todays 10 year olds putting down their play stations to fork out a hundred quid on this baby.

All I am saying is there is a wealth of reference material available nowadays and from what we have seen so far Airfix have provided pretty much everything required to produce a quality piece of work that cannot be compared to their 70s kits. I imagine the publication produced by Valiant Wings with technical drawings etc would be of more use than pictures of Brett Green's airbrush hovering over some pre- shading.

Mick

Have you seen the price of PS4 games? I too bought the original Spitfire in the seventies aged 12. It cost all of £2.50 plus bus fare as the chauffeur was busy! It was expensive compared to other kits but well inside pocket money range with a bit of saving. The big Tiffie is value for money but it's relatively more expensive even allowing for inflation.

As for the book. I don't see the problem.To me all references are good.

I got an Airfix 1/24th Hurricane for my 10th, which was 1976, cost £3.30 then. It was a big deal for me [what a surprise] , but was not really expensive even then.

Not pocket money, but certainly birthday or xmas present affordable, and we were not rich, this was my main present, certainly the only one I remember.

How much was a Chopper bike back then? Not £3.30 I'd bet. Don't know, didn't have one.

A series 1 kit was about 20p for comparison. Hard to say, as it was the late 70's and we did have high inflation so prices went up fast. Some from the vaults

A series 4 1/48 Hurricane or Spitfire was £1.95 in 1979

A Tamiya Lancaster was £13.99 in July 1980, which was expensive!

By then VAT had been raised to a flat 15% as well..anyone else remember kits going up in may 1979 as result.

[i have boxes with price stickers still on from then. Me, a Pack Rat? never ] See below for more on inflation and kit prices....

But, then this kit is not really for 10 year olds, [though for the 10 year old me it would have been a 'must have'] and I could have built it then, but not very well. But how many 10 year old do you see now with expensive trainers , or mobile phones?

I did get in 1976 over the year the 1/24th Bf109, Mustang, and saved up for the Stuka for xmas and also then got the Spitfire. That said it was my only hobby and this is what ALL the money I got went on, I'd not buy sweets or the like with pocket money, kits or kit related items. Not much has changed then!

But, as I disturbingly realised, the 1970's are now 40 or so years in the past, more than the war was when I was 10 .... so how relevant is this to 10 year old, back then ww2 veterans were in their 50's...

I think most of these kits are going to be bought by, well, middle aged men.

And stashed, as has been pointed out, how many 1/24th Mossie do you see built up, though it sold out.

Which will bother Airfix not a jot what gets done with them as long as they sell, but good for Airfix, they are really listening and improving, as Edgar says, they are paying attention to these forums, and using the input of subject matter experts, as witnessed by Chris Thomas involvement.

Their new 1/48 Spitfire VB is an improvement on the excellent 1/48th PR XIX as another example.

Kits have gone up more then straight inflation BTW.

For comparison, from here http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/

In 2013, the relative value of £3.30 from 1976 ranges from £18.92 to £41.39.

A simple Purchasing Power Calculator would say the relative value is £20.72. This answer is obtained by multiplying £3.30 by the percentage increase in the RPI from 1976 to 2013.

This may not be the best answer.

The best measure of the relative value over time depends on if you are interested in comparing the cost or value of a Commodity , Income or Wealth , or a Project . For more discussion on how to pick the best measure, read the essay "Explaining the Measures of Worth."

If you want to compare the value of a £3.30 Commodity in 1976 there are three choices. In 2013 the relative:

real price of that commodity is £20.72

labour value of that commodity is £30.79

income value of that commodity is £36.53

If you want to compare the value of a £3.30 Income or Wealth , in 1976 there are three choices. In 2013 the relative:

historic standard of living value of that income or wealth is £20.72

economic status value of that income or wealth is £36.53

economic power value of that income or wealth is £41.39

make what you will of that, and note the RRP of the same [long amortised] kit is £56.99 at Hannants..

Some of us aren't as confident of our abilities as you appear to be. Having treated myself to a Tamiya 1/32 Spit the confidence boost being to refer to a detailed build meant I was able overcome my fear screwing up a significant investment and to actually contemplate actually building the kit. I'm not a collector so I only buy kits I intend to build however when it comes to kits that cost £100 or more I can only afford one attempt.

On a general point books like the current ADH ones and the earlier Patrick Stephens series for the original Airfix 1/24 models allow the modeller to see what the model looks like built and in the case of the other ADH books conversions and suggestions for after market parts. Clearly the current one for Tiffie wont cover any aftermarket as it is out too soon but none the less getting another opinion on building the kit may well provide helpful pointers.

The original Patrick Stephens books where eye openers for me as they introduced me to what where totally new ideas for me scratchbuilding and superdetailing, not to mention starting the long running debate about Spitfire interior colours (especially when involves mixing a long discontinued Humbrol colour!). Theres even the Mosquito book which had no Airfix kit to go with it.

Airfix planned a 1/24th Mosquito in the late 70's, didn't do it, but the research went into their 1/48th version in 79 or 80, which is still a contender now with a few modelling skills, and was the best of their late 70's 1/48th kits.

Hi

It would be nice if airfix did another classic book pn the tiffie in the old series ( or was it psl )

109 spit hurri p 51 lanc 87 mossie , was there a 190 book ? i dont have one.

I still look at the old ones, always remember the 87 book was the first to mention 87's still being used in the channel area in jan/feb/mar 41 at night

cheers

jerry

Patrick Stephens Ltd, PSL,

did Spitfire, Bf109, Mustang, Hurricane, Stuka, for the 1/24th kits] then Lancaster, B-17 and Mosquito.

I have had the Spitfire and Hurricane 'since then' and they are still useful, I picked up the Mustang, Stuka and Lancaster cheapish recently the Lanc is best of the 3, the Mustang and Stuka are OK, though the conversions leave much to be desired, Mustang does not address different wing of A and B/C models, and the Stuka is not that good.

I have a pdf of the Bf109 book too.

I'd only get the big Typhoon if/when if on sale, which eventually it will be, [and even then it's a 'maybe] like the Mossie, and then gone for a while....

enough of my rambling, hope some points of interest.

[tonyot]

I`m very interested in what Chris said,.......I`m presuming that the Tiffy model in the book had the internal framework painted silver,.......so was the framework being painted Interior Grey Green by the time the later Tiffies (and Hurricanes?) were built and was the upper section of the cockpit painted black,..as per the Tempest? Its my birthday on Thursday and I`m secretly hoping for an Airfix Typhoon kit!!

Cheers

Tony

[noelh]

Got my copy of the book this morning. Already I found it useful so I'm happy. Although I had to smile at the reference to the canopy: 'The kit windscreen - beautiful thin and free from distortion.' Like everyone else mine certainly were thin but not free from distortion or cracking. Thanks to a packing mix up clearly I got two canopies and no other transparent parts. Both canopies were unusable.

Troy, your post prompted me to dig out some of my old copies of Airfix magazine from 1971 onwards. I have some going back to 1963 but they were given to me by a family friend later.

After a nostalgic trip down memory lane and reading some of Alan W Hall's classic talcum powder and balsa conversionsI had a look at the prices. The Airfix Spitfire was going for £1.95 as was the new Bf109. It was also noticeable that even then Tamiya and Hasegawa were relatively more expensive. I remember sending away to Bridge Models of Walthamstow. E17 (Whatever happened to all those model shops) for a Tamiya Sherman M4A3E8. It cost £1.60 plus postage and it was far less kit than the Spit.

I also googled the price of a Raleigh Chopper around then: £32. The new version that came out a while ago cost about £200 but any comparable bike now can be got for about £100.

Of course we're comparing apples and oranges I think. Bicycles are comparatively cheaper now, made in China for a mass market. On the other hand models have gone from mass market aimed at kids to specialist items aimed at adults, despite the efforts of Airfix to market their wares beyond the usual suspects.

I doubt very much if Airfix will sell as many Typhoons as they did Spitfires. On the other hand I did get the Amazon discount so am pleased with myself.

Your figures are interesting in terms of the costs of the current issue of the Spitfire. But you can in fact pick up one for a lot less than the Hannants price. I got one from Debenhams earlier this year for less than the equivalent of £30.

Also like you I was disturbed recently to realise that the 1970s were further away than the war was back then. I don't feel that old.

[Rabbit Leader]

Happy birthday Tony,

When my kids asked me what did I want for my birthday this year I gave them two criteria.

1. As I'm turning 44, it had to be something associated with 1944.

2. As I was born in 1970, the number seventy had to also be synonymous with the present.

It was then that I flicked through the Airfix catalogue as said "Eukeka - there it is" - I pointed to the Airfix Typhoon with excitement.

Although this kit did miss my June birthday. It duly arrived about six weeks later. My kids were a little confused and said "hey, you've already had your birthday present - to which I replied, when your an adult, it's your birthday each week the postie arrives !!

So Tony - Three cheers from all of us.. Dave.

Edited August 5, 2014 by Rabbit Leader

[noelh]

Tony yes the two builds in the book contradict each other in terms of internal colours. One build uses interior green with night. The other Marcus Nicholls sticks with Airfix recommendations of aluminium and night.

The photos in the book of the Hendon Typhoon show only aluminium and black in the cockpit, plus the photo of the IWM cockpit section.

One the face of it that should be that. But I wonder if the earlier car door version was painted using interior green? Considering that many were later converted to 'slider' versions including one featured in the kit. Would they have repainted the interior silver? Or would that have been left green or some sort of mixture of the two?

Good luck with the birthday present Tony, I'm afraid no amount of hints would help in my case.

Edited August 5, 2014 by noelh

[elderly]

I can't see a paper copy of Brett Green's book on ADH's website or on Amazon,

does anybody have a copy that they no longer need that they would like to sell please?

Re. the discussion in this thread about the affordability of (the more basic) Airfix 1:24 aircraft kits for youngsters;

I remember the delight and excitement of being given a diesel engined control line aircraft kit at the age of 13,

something that there was no way that I could have bought out of pocket money savings (unlike the two shilling 1:72 Airfix aircraft kits in plastic bags that I used to buy from Woolworths),

and to that end I've been buying (when found cheaply) a number of early 1:24 Airfix kits which I'll drip feed (birthdays/Christmas etc.)

to my grandson in a few years time - he won't care at that stage about inaccuracies, I'm just hoping they will enthuse him for when he's old enough to hopefully build better kits skilfully.

[ColFord]

Posted on Hyperscale on 22 January 2016, the answer to your request 'elderly':

QUOTE: We thought we had sold out of the 'How To Build the Airfix 1:24 Hawker Typhoon Mk.Ib' book, but this week Marcus Nicholls found a few more boxes in ADH Publishing's store room. If you missed out on the print edition of this book, place your order now before they really run out! As it is in very limited supply, the book is not on the ADH Publishing website, so please phone on UK +44 (0)1525 222573 to order with a credit card, or email to; [email protected]

END QUOTE.

So if you want one, you will need to get in contact asap.

Question is, can we expect a revised edition sometime after the car door variant of the Airfix 1/24th Typhoon is released?

[elderly]

QUOTE .........'How To Build the Airfix 1:24 Hawker Typhoon Mk.Ib' book, but this week Marcus Nicholls found a few more boxes in ADH Publishing's store room. .......

END QUOTE.

So if you want one, you will need to get in contact asap.

Question is, can we expect a revised edition sometime after the car door variant of the Airfix 1/24th Typhoon is released?

Thanks for the heads up on this, I have ordered one, and I asked about the possibility of a revised edition;

they have no plans at the moment but said that it is usual for them to bring out up-dated editions.

Of course had they said a definate yes, they probably wouldn't be able to get rid of the old editions so easily.

ETA. My print copy has already arrived; excellent service from ADH.

Edited January 27, 2016 by elderly