Airfix stopping Kitstarter

[tempestfan]

Out of curiosity - I assume the Basset comes with decals, do they provide either or both of the "legacy" schemes as provided in the two former lifes of the kit ?

[Graham Boak]

I might have one (or even two) Basset fuselage halves in my spares box, but if so they'll be badly bowed - which is why they ended up there in the first place.

[roymattblack]

Looks like I'll not be getting my Beaver then.

...no comment...

[AntPhillips]

I might have one (or even two) Basset fuselage halves in my spares box, but if so they'll be badly bowed - which is why they ended up there in the first place.

Thanks Graham,

I spoke to Airfix today, they gave me 2 options, I can return the kit for exchange or fill in the spares request on-line and they'll send me a new fuselage half.

I've gone the latter route as I can't really be bothered to go through the hassle of returning the kit.

I've had the automated acknowledgement so I'll just sit tight and wait the 28 days they say to allow.

[dazdot]

Jgood luck with spares request its not what it was

[Dave Fleming]

Out of curiosity - I assume the Basset comes with decals, do they provide either or both of the "legacy" schemes as provided in the two former lifes of the kit ?

Just the Transport Command option, although in a modernised form. There are images in the other thread.

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234985715-airfix-dhc-beaver-beagle-basset-kit-starter/?p=2303933

Edited May 18, 2016 by Dave Fleming

[AntPhillips]

Well I've had a response from Airfix this morning:

Dear Sir
Sorry we do not have any stock available please return to internet sales for replacement/refund.
Thank you
Regards
Airfix spares.

Ho hum, what a palava this is turning into.

My only concern now is, if they don't have any for spares, and they were all supposedly pre-ordered then how will they replace it. I'm beginning to think a refund will be on the cards

[stevej60]

Love Airfix but stupid idea! a simple poll on their website would have given them the info as to which kits people want to see re-released and

yes you will get a number of people wanting every darn kit releasing but they could have picked the top two or three and repeated the process

going forward charged a decent price and made money off a lot more modellers,I would have bought the Basset for nostalgia purposes alone.

Edited May 19, 2016 by stevej60

[dazdot]

Well I've had a response from Airfix this morning:

Dear Sir

Sorry we do not have any stock available please return to internet sales for replacement/refund.

Thank you

Regards

Airfix spares.

Ho hum, what a palava this is turning into.

My only concern now is, if they don't have any for spares, and they were all supposedly pre-ordered then how will they replace it. I'm beginning to think a refund will be on the cards

Yep I had the same for 1/24 hurricane gunsight that was short shot I'm starting to think they want to disappear again. So much so I'm wondering if they deserve to survive!

[AntPhillips]

Well I think I got a result this morning, after deciding that the e-mail route was going nowhere fast, I phoned Hornby Hobbies (it would seem Airfix as an entity no longer exists other than as oneof the brand names of Hornby Hobbies) and spoke to a very helpful lady named Kirstie, it does appear that as all the Beagle kits were pre-ordered there are no spare kits so it's not possible to exchange my faulty kit for another, however after a brief chat to her manager, they determined that they will be able to supply me a replacement fuselage half after all. .

It does strike me that at the moment, the level of Customer Care you receive at Hornby, is very much dependent on the person you get to deal with and does require you to keep on it, if I need to, I'll certainly ask for Kirstie again.

Here's hoping that it all goes according to plan.

[tempestfan]

Just the Transport Command option, although in a modernised form. There are images in the other thread.

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234985715-airfix-dhc-beaver-beagle-basset-kit-starter/?p=2303933

Thanks for putting me onto that second thread !

I really don't believe that they are about to scrap any mould, I'd consider this a marketing instrument - after all, who would have preordered had they said "well, we test the market with you guys, and if it works well, the kit will get a regular range release at half the price next year" ?

[AntPhillips]

From my conversation with Airfix this morning, it would appear there are no spare kits available, it sounds like they only made enough to cover the pre-orders.

Reading between the lines, when they offered me a refund or replacement I think they were rather hoping I'd take a refund, it all got a bit complicated when I said I'd prefer a replacement, it was only then that they magically found a spare fuselage half to send to me, having previously told me there were no spares available.

[Chimpion]

Reading between the lines, when they offered me a refund or replacement I think they were rather hoping I'd take a refund, it all got a bit complicated when I said I'd prefer a replacement, it was only then that they magically found a spare fuselage half to send to me, having previously told me there were no spares available.

Let's hope it's the side that's missing and not the one you've already got!

[AntPhillips]

Let's hope it's the side that's missing and not the one you've already got!

If that happens, then I'll take it as a sign & it will be going back for a refund.

[Simon Cornes]

Yep I had the same for 1/24 hurricane gunsight that was short shot I'm starting to think they want to disappear again. So much so I'm wondering if they deserve to survive!

Thats interesting. I ordered quite a few 1/24th Spit bits and a few Hurri bits recently for a project I have in the go. One part was the Hurri gun sight and they didn't have that so it seems as though, in this case anyway, they have one Hurri kit and if the bit you want has already gone then tough, they aren't opening another one! And when you think how they've been trying to shift some kits and allowing lots of discount? I just hope Airfix don't loose the plot, they have been doing so well.

[PHIL B]

I received a Basset on Wednesday which was a bit of a surprise since I only pre-ordered a Beaver and not a Basset. I've had no notification from Airfix that they've put KitStarter on hold but I suppose they'd say my order has been fulfilled.

I'd better check the contents given Ant's fuselage half problem.

I say hats off to Airfix for the experiment. I guess they're not in a position to simply reissue this kind of kit on spec but I question their choice of subjects. Perhaps mould availability is an issue.

As for the Basset price, £15 including postage seems reasonable to me.

Phil

[AntPhillips]

Well, I had an email off Airfix Spares yesterday, telling me my missing fuselage half is on its way.

Nowt in post today a yet though.

[rayprit]

I received a Basset on Wednesday which was a bit of a surprise since I only pre-ordered a Beaver and not a Basset. I've had no notification from Airfix that they've put KitStarter on hold but I suppose they'd say my order has been fulfilled.

I'd better check the contents given Ant's fuselage half problem.

I say hats off to Airfix for the experiment. I guess they're not in a position to simply reissue this kind of kit on spec but I question their choice of subjects. Perhaps mould availability is an issue.

As for the Basset price, £15 including postage seems reasonable to me.

Phil

Hats off to Airfix for doing the experiment, its one of those ideas that has plenty of potential, but alas lacked the interest, so, basically there experiment has worked.......somebody had the idea of kitstarter, Airfix had nothing to lose and plenty to gain had it worked.

Incidently, I was under the impression that Airfix did not choose the kits to produce?? It was left for the modeller to vote, online, for the kit that they wished to see produced again. Airfix had little say in it, the modellers that bothered to cast a vote, had there chance and the Beagle 206 came out on tops, so, Airfix kept there word and produced a limited amount for the modellers that wished for that particular model.

The cost is/was reasonable, although, I note that on auction sites it goes for more or less exactly that same price, once again hats off for Airfix

I see already, the "Limited Edition" Basset on an auction site, .............

[Plasto]

Yes that's sort of how it worked but the vital bit is that Airfix themselves picked which kits were on offer based on which tooling was available and useable , with some input based on popularity / desire from their own Airfix forum.

The problem is there was no great desire from the great unwashed modelling public for bird kits or 'classic ' historical figures such as 'The Black Prince' which is what they first offered up. So an initial round of excitement was somewhat tempered with choices that were poor.

Finally they got some 1/72 aircraft up but TBH most of the initial interest they had generated had fallen away. My view is if your going to run social media campaigns and experiment to generate site traffic and brand exposure which is what kit starter really was it was a sort of co creation campaign which is a sort of new trend in Social media based marketing, then they needed to have a good offer that was appealing to their core audience from the start of the campaign. So launch it with an initial offer of two choices of 1/72 Aircraft then build on that.

Offering birds and lacklustre historical figures shows that they are not in touch with the core Consumer group.More so when you have sales figures and a forum full of customer feedback telling you what it wants.

Still some folks got a re-popped Beagle out of it so that's great.

Cheers

Plasto

Edited May 25, 2016 by Plasto

[The Cameraman]

Hi Plasto,

well said Good Sir.

I was just hoping that my order for three Beavers was to come to fruition but it now looks like the second choice kit's not going to to return. Shame.

[The Cameraman]

Hi Plasto,

well said Good Sir.

I was just hoping that my order for three Beavers was to come to fruition but it now looks like the second choice kit's not going to to return. Shame.

Hi Guys n Gals,

I've received an e-mail from Airfix -

Dear Stuart Martindale

Thank you for your interest in the KitStarter project below. Unfortunately this project was unsuccessful in reaching its support level target for it to go back into production and has now closed.

Don't worry you will not be charged and your Pre-Order will be automatically cancelled.

Thank you for your interest in KitStarter.

Oh well, looks like I'll need to carry on chasing older kits then!

[SleeperService]

Hmm. I'm actually quite relieved that they've stopped this seems like a fad that used up resources better applied elsewhere within the company.

I've said before that they'd be better off releasing these older, not replaced kits as say, Airfix Classics, with a different box background, say green, and reuse the original instruction sheet style. Minimum cost, no hassle and a separate decal placement sheet could cover upgraded decals if used.

As long as they set the run size right and only release a handful a year they could keep this going for years just as Disney does.

Other advantages would include new model-makers not being put off by buying an old mould after a couple of new releases, if a kit sells well then a replacement could be looked into, resellers pockets will lose as Airfix gains revenue and moulds that don't sell well could easily be dropped from the red range to be retried in a few years depending on trends at that time.

Oh and they should approach the subject choice with an open mind and not be swayed by vocal minority interests. They re-released the Rotodyne because 'everybody' said it would be a success, they over estimated demand and the whole thing went rather badly. They could also relate releases to current events so the F-35 enters UK service release the SR.53 as an earlier attempt to push the boundaries. When the next 70s revival hits do the Bond Bug and so on.

[Dave Fleming]

They don't have the SR53 mould

[GreenDragon]

They don't have the SR53 mould

Hadn't heard that Dave, good reason to make a new tool though!

Paul Harrison

[SleeperService]

They don't have the SR53 mould

Details, details, details

Actually the original Kestrel Harrier might be a better match as I'd forgotten the STOVL capability. but you get the idea.....?