Uncle Dick Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Right lads, received a recent order with a Beau and Kate (both Airfix new tools) in the parcel, and I noticed the Kate kit box is much shorter than the Beau kit box which was a surprise, had a closer look and to my further surprise they are both series 4 kits!!!! But wait there’s more – the Kate has 1 flying hour while the Beau has 2 flying hours!!!! And then there is the number of parts difference… I would expect a parts number difference but not a kit box size difference nor flying hours difference as they are the same price and same series 4, this made me do quick survey of the Airfix series 4 military range in 1/72 to see what other shenanigans Airfix have been up to, some kits I do not have in my stash so relied on the Airfix web site for details and there are quite a few differences that crop up within the series 4 range and one mistake on their web site. Some kits even have three decal options instead of two. I am sure Airfix have their reasons and am not knocking them, as I love their kits but it is interesting to see what differences there are - it certainly was surprising, if you have not noticed before!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Airfix Series 4 kits, Parts number, Flying hours, Decal options A04019 Beaufighter Mk X 130 2 2 A04055 Harrier Gr 3 110 1 2 A04050 Harrier Gr 7/9 126 2 3 A04053 Swordfish Mk1 125 3 (Airfix web site says 2) 2 A04058 Nakjima B5N2 Kate 107 1 2 Smaller box than rest of series 4 kits [Also the yet to be released B5N1 Kate is advertised as 2 Flying hours] A04057 AV-8A Harrier 114 1 2 A04051 Sea Harrier FRS1 112 1 3 A04052 Sea Harrier FA2 116 1 3 A04059 Blenheim MkIF [advertised] 156 2 2 A04016 Blenheim Mk I 142 2 2 A04017 Blenheim Mk IVF 158 2 2 A04003 Swift FR5 62 1 2 A04054 Lightning F2A 92 1 2 A04056 Sea King HC4 133 2 2 The Swift coming in at 62 parts (if that is not a typo) and 1 flying hour has to be the worst value for money in the range followed by the Lightning F2A, there are probably some more box size differences as well. Perhaps Airfix put kits they do not expect to sell as well the popular releases in a higher range series to recoup their production costs? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truro Model Builder Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 What is more is that if you take into account that some Series 4 and 5 kits are in Series 3 size boxes, you can pay anything between £10-£17 for what is seemingly the same size model. Not unique to Airfix I know, but until comparatively recently they have steered clear of that particular issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Putting small models into large boxes is an old Airfix habit, partially inspired many years ago by the impossibility of fitting series 1 kits such as the Corsair into the new blister packaging. This was further advanced by the introduction of all-round frames, which meant that even small models had to go into larger boxes but must have saved the old Dept.C a fortune. However the rapid inflation on the period did lead to some up-boxing with less obvious cause. The classic being perhaps the Banshee which even drew comment in the magazines of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 The Swift coming in at 62 parts (if that is not a typo) and 1 flying hour has to be the worst value for money in the range Surely VFM doesn't relate to how many parts it has? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hepster Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Let me get this right - you judge a kits VFM on the parts count and the number of Flying Hours tokens? I go for accuracy maybe combined with decal quality every time... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 As a method for judging kits, it has the virtue of being indisputable and beyond subjective bias. It does of course mean that jet aircraft will generally be judged inferior to propeller aircraft, so that's another virtue. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sroubos Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 I would think relative pricing differences are due to the amount of work and materials it's taken Airfix to bring it to market, unless they feel they can increase the price for kits they think will sell extremely well regardless of price, but let's discount that option. Perhaps the mess around the Swift has increased their cost so much they feel they need to price it slightly higher than normal to recoup their costs? Pure speculation of course. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dambuster Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Me - I'm just grateful that Airfix continue to bring out new models every year.... Peter 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 (edited) As a method for judging kits, it has the virtue of being indisputable and beyond subjective bias. Indisputably true. But it also falls into the classic trap when devising metrics: "let us measure it not because it tels us anything useful but because we can.". Edited January 25, 2016 by Seahawk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWFK10 Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Putting small models into large boxes is an old Airfix habit, partially inspired many years ago by the impossibility of fitting series 1 kits such as the Corsair into the new blister packaging. This was further advanced by the introduction of all-round frames, which meant that even small models had to go into larger boxes but must have saved the old Dept.C a fortune. However the rapid inflation on the period did lead to some up-boxing with less obvious cause. The classic being perhaps the Banshee which even drew comment in the magazines of the time. The Battle was another example. It was released as a Series 2 kit in 1968 but when reissued in 1979 without any changes to the plastic, it was bumped up to Series 3 and put in a bigger box (misleadingly emblazoned "NEW!") for no apparent reason. Likewise, the Hudson and Boston migrated from Series 3 to Series 4 in the 1980s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyf117 Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 (edited) Content withdrawn - I will NOT be threatened by a moderator, simply because I queried the actions of another... Edited June 27, 2020 by andyf117 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Millman Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 As Sroubos has rightly observed the pricing will almost certainly take into account the cost of production (inc research, etc) and probably projected sales which will vary from kit to kit. Nick It's a marketing/pricing policy like any other, but with the difference that Airfix can't make a scale model smaller to reduce costs and increase profits - unlike Cadbury chocolate bars, for example, which alternately get smaller/lighter for the same price, or stay the same size but have a price increase. The favourite one is the "concentrated" scam where bottles of washing liquids get smaller but cost more. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 I would think relative pricing differences are due to the amount of work and materials it's taken Airfix to bring it to market, unless they feel they can increase the price for kits they think will sell extremely well regardless of price, but let's discount that option. Perhaps the mess around the Swift has increased their cost so much they feel they need to price it slightly higher than normal to recoup their costs? Pure speculation of course. Unlikely, it was announced in Series 4 long before it entered production. More likely that's what they thought the market would bear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truro Model Builder Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 The reissues of the Fouga Magister and Shorts Tucano were as Series 3 kits, both of which have surely repaid their original investment costs. They could have been issued as Series 2 models (yes, I know that the Tucano was originally Series 3, but the box was a lot smaller then) and achieved better sales as a result. Neither showed much inclination to move off the shelf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomBigStu Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) some kits are overpriced, some are under, ultimately it probably balances out Edited January 26, 2016 by PhantomBigStu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Dick Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 Bench marking is not to everyones taste but it does serve a useful purpose, accuracy is nigh impossible to agree on - everyone has their own view. Comparing series 4 kits as such is much simpler using parts number, flying hours and decal options as airfix do not provide an "accuracy scale" or "accuracy number" on the kit box for comparison... As to VFM I'll swap you a series 1 for a series 4 any day of the week, then sell the series 4 and obtain two series 1 kits for the price I sold the series 4 - while you hold on to the one series 1 kit - the cold hard reality of economics - hows that for VFM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete610 Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Interesting Metrics (horrible modern Phrase) - but price still comes down to what the consumer will pay... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smackers Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 The reissues of the Fouga Magister and Shorts Tucano were as Series 3 kits, both of which have surely repaid their original investment costs. They probably have but what gets forgotten is the company has been sold on several times since the moulds were made and each company thats bought Airfix seeks to recoup what they paid first and foremost. Pretty lucky i'd say that Airfix are releasing something other than Bf 109s, Fw 190s, P-51s, Spitfires, Lightnings, Harriers etc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders154 Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 Surely VFM doesn't relate to how many parts it has? I ditch the flying hours along with the box If I like the subject that all that counts Rodders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
occa Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 Lets call the fire brigade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Monday Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 The big-kit-in-a-small-box syndrome is a bit of an issue with the new Sea King HC4 kit. BM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
757flyer Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Pardon the question, but what are flying hours, with relation to Airfix kits? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sroubos Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 (edited) It's a customer-retainment scheme based on getting points for every kit you buy (more expensive kit, more points) which you can then exchange for kits via Airfix's website. The catch is that you need to be a paid member of the Airfix Club. You also pay quite a lot for shipping the kits you buy with your points. I've got close to 30 flying hours sitting on kits in my stash, but I recently did the math on it and it would be more expensive to use them than to buy the kit(s) of my choice outright. You can also use the points to buy exclusive club kits but these are often out of stock. Details: http://www.airfix.com/uk-en/club Edited January 30, 2016 by sroubos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Thompson Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 It's a customer-retainment scheme based on getting points for every kit you buy (more expensive kit, more points) which you can then exchange for kits via Airfix's website. The catch is that you need to be a paid member of the Airfix Club. You also pay quite a lot for shipping the kits you buy with your points. I've got close to 30 flying hours sitting on kits in my stash, but I recently did the math on it and it would be more expensive to use them than to buy the kit(s) of my choice outright. You can also use the points to buy exclusive club kits but these are often out of stock. Details: http://www.airfix.com/uk-en/club I agree that the postage is high if you live outside the UK. Quite unreasonable in fact. But within the uK it's quite do-able IMO at £2.95 per kit, which is okay if it's one of the larger kits you're after (you can't use them on anything above series 8 though). Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomBigStu Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 postage is now 4.95 for the uk, same as a normal airfix order Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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