runeha Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Hi! With Airfix's recent re-releases of new tooling of their earlier kits, I wonder if anyone has heard any rumours of a new Fairey Battle? I would love to see a new tool kit of this type from any manufacturer/scale, as there are preciously few options out there. Best regardsRune Norway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Would be nice wouldn't it! Airfix could tool it in such a way enabling trainers and TT variants. A bit like the way MPM did their kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Being as there is a Fairey Battle waiting at Hendon to be lidar'ed then maybe. If Airfix never had great sales with their old kit then maybe not. I reckon we can be pretty sure of seeing a decent amount of new tool kits from Airfix in 2016 so maybe the Battle will be one of them, who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 About 18 months ago FlyPast did a piece on the Battle. To illustrate part of the narrative, there was a rather snazzy computer generated action picture of (I think) one of the raids on the Belgian Bridges. The picture was credited to Airfx........ Trevor Forgot to mention that the artwork was not for the current release. Just saying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Foster60 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 It is just a plane without any great history, the main time it was used , it was shot out of the sky. All credit to the brave men who flew them, but not something folks are going to celebrate by going out and buying armfuls of kits. Maybe that's why we lack a good 1/72 scale model. from Airfix? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kunac-Tabinor Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 It is just a plane without any great history, the main time it was used , it was shot out of the sky. All credit to the brave men who flew them, but not something folks are going to celebrate by going out and buying armfuls of kits. Maybe that's why we lack a good 1/72 scale model. from Airfix? The same could be said for the Bristol Blenheim, but that hasn't stopped Airfix.... Jonners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heraldcoupe Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Airfix's original Battle has been frequently re-released, often enough to suggest it sells reasonably well. Based on fame alone I wouldn't have predicted the Supermarine Swift, Cheers, Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Foster60 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 The Blenheim was indeed another aircraft in the wrong place at the wrong time. However it served in many theatres, over 4 years plus, not just one campaign of any note. I think also that many more were built. As you say (Bill) though Airfix have reissued it a number of times so there must be some market for it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveCS Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I'd be up for a new tool one by Airfix!! I wouldn't be surprised if it's engineered as Paul suggested. I've noted the way they've engineered their 2014 Tiger Moth that it can accommodate the conversion from DH.82a to DH.82c so it would make sense to do the same for the Battle in order to accommodate TT and trainer versions. Mind you, this would mean tossing the old Airfix kit and Valiant resin nose correction into the bin!! *LOL* Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Best place for it Dave, the nose correction improves it a little but the whole airframe is so badly bodged as to be a virtual conversion/scratchbuild to make it accurate. There was talk of Special Hobby doing another mould to replace their almost-as-bodged-as-the-Airfix one, but that was 8 or 9 years ago and can probably be filed in the drawer marked 'Spurious SAMI Rumours' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 The Battle was in the thick of it in France/Belgium with both the RAF and BAF and also Greece (doesn't the current boxing have a Greek one on the front?). Then there's all the colourful Canadian machines. Don't forget the obscure engine test beds too. So in terms of marking options, I'd say it's up there with the Blenheim for variety and that's surely half the battle (no pun intended) in shifting kits? Trevor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 (edited) About 18 months ago FlyPast did a piece on the Battle. To illustrate part of the narrative, there was a rather snazzy computer generated action picture of (I think) one of the raids on the Belgian Bridges. The picture was credited to Airfx........ Trevor Forgot to mention that the artwork was not for the current release. Just saying Possibly an alternative box top considered with the Greek one Edited March 23, 2015 by Dave Fleming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 (edited) I've no reason to think it's on their list for the short term, but I'd certainly buy a couple so I would be very pleased if a new kit did make it to production. Edited March 23, 2015 by Work In Progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimHead23 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I would be over the moon if Airfix decided to retool the Battle. It seems to me in recent years that Airfix have targeted my personal wants in the 1/72 market and every year are turning out exactly the kits that I want to see! Roll on a Beaufort! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Possibly an alternative box top considered with the Greek one Not what I wanted to hear Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 (edited) I`d love to see a new Airfix Battle as well! I did ask MPM/SH if they were considering re releasing their Battle or re hashing it and they said not because it might be one of the kits which Airfix could re release soon,.......along with most other old kits from the Airfix range! Don`t forget that the Battle was also used in action over East Africa by the SAAF and also in a training role by the RAAF, RCAF & SAAF! So what with the Battle of France/Belgium, the invasion of Greece and the often forgotten raids on the Channel Ports during the Battle of Britain,...I`d say that it saw quite widespread service! Cheers Tony PS- Most Fleet Air Arm fighter pilots had their first solo flight in a `relatively' high performance single seat monoplane at Netheravon in a Battle and many pre war RAF fighter sqns had at least one Battle on charge to give pilots more used to biplane`s experience of Merlin engines, airscrew controls and a retractable undercarriage before they got their hands on a Spitfire or Hurricane! Edited March 23, 2015 by tonyot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 (edited) It is still only March and we have already started to go down the road of speculating what new kits Airfix will be releasing in the new year. Being as the old/current Fairey Battle kit has been repeatedly deleted and re-released over the years I would say demand for the Battle is less than for something like the Hurricane but more than something like the Hovercraft. I don't know if it would pay Airfix to produce a new Battle, but the last time it was re-released it was soon deleted and you could pick the kits up for just a few quid in the end, nobody seemed to want them they were just everywhere and can still be found on ebay. Mind you if Airfix does do a new Battle I may be tempted to buy as many as five kits, Garland VC, Greek, Belgian, East African campaign and some sort of stripey one. I did like making the old Battle, for all its mistakes it was still a nice old kit to build. Edited March 23, 2015 by old thumper 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misterfriend Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 About 18 months ago FlyPast did a piece on the Battle. To illustrate part of the narrative, there was a rather snazzy computer generated action picture of (I think) one of the raids on the Belgian Bridges. The picture was credited to Airfx........ Trevor Forgot to mention that the artwork was not for the current release. Just saying I got pretty excited by that artwork too but they used it on their "Victoria Cross Icons" box sets. Not to say they aren't planning a new tool of it but I don't think that's the artwork for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Will Airfix do a new-tool of the Battle and, if they did, would it sell? Well, they are releasing a Whitley later this year and one could argue that's a much more little-known aircraft. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Will Airfix do a new-tool of the Battle and, if they did, would it sell? Well, they are releasing a Whitley later this year and one could argue that's a much more little-known aircraft. I hope it does sell, and I think it will because it will be the only Whitley available after a long absence from the shelves, just think of all the incomplete Bomber Command collections around! As far as the Whitley being a much more little known aircraft than the Battle, I would say the Whitley is equally as well known as the Battle. In the same way that I think the Americans remember the Devastator the British remember the Battle, by that I mean that the Battle is more infamous that famous due to it's loss rate. I do think there is a tendency for people to only want to think of the later half of the war when the Allies were winning, the early war being a negative memory associated with defeat, to add to this later war aircraft look faster, bigger, meaner and often just more exciting. Going back to whether the Battle is better known than the Whitley, I think that peoples knowledge of aircraft has been heavily influenced over the years by the Airfix catalogue. I remember as a child discovering the existence of certain types of aircraft thanks to first seeing them in the Airfix catalogue. How many people first discovered the Defiant, Whirlwind or Stirling thanks to Airfix?. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tripod Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Zvezda have released a 1:144 Battle, which is quite small, very cheap and looks like a Battle. It's listed as a wargamers' model, rather than an aircraft kit. As for Airfix, a new Battle would fit with their recent policy of replacing many of the most inaccurate models in the 'legacy' range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I don't see a deliberate policy of replacing "many of the most inaccurate models". They appear to be working with three priorities: the classics, early WW2 British, and British from the 50s. This does include several of their most inaccurate models, but a short list would include others that don't appear within those priorities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I don't see a deliberate policy of replacing "many of the most inaccurate models". They appear to be working with three priorities: the classics, early WW2 British, and British from the 50s. This does include several of their most inaccurate models, but a short list would include others that don't appear within those priorities. One theme conspicuous by its absence is the Great War for any of the services. For example the last aircraft they did was the Sopwith Pup (1978?). Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hacker Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 It's one of those icon aircraft that we all know. For me there will never be one in 1/32 well maybe in resin ($$$$$$) so scratch build for me...well if l get around to it. As far as l know no vac kits of this either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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