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Airfix Top Gun Range


Mikey-1980

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There has been some discussion of it in the Airfix 2020 Catalogue thread, but i dont think they have been given their own post? I believe the consensus was these were all 'Reboxings' of old tool kits (There was at some points some "NEW TOOL" stickers next to the kits which has dissapeared), and probably have a new decal sheet to go with them.

 


Personally that is fine as long as they are priced accordingly, but with the film licencing cost, new boxing and box-art, and fresh decals, i expect these will be priced very much at the same level as the new MIG and Blenheim kits. 

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14 hours ago, Hook said:

Apart from the Super Bug, aren't these identical to the similar 80s boxings? I.e., https://www.scalemates.com/kits/airfix-00501-a4-skyhawk--206609

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

 

Judging from the number of parts, the A-4 should be the more recent (2012) mould and not the ancient late '50s one originally reboxed in the 1986 Top Gun issues.

Tomcat and F-5s are the same old, while the Hornet is a mistery... the parts count is the same as Airfix own old F-18, that however is an A and not the E represented in the boxart and featured in the movie.

Really of the kits announced the A-4 is the best of the bunch, with the F-5 useable. The Tomcat is IMHO a waste of £20, that are better spent on almost any other Tomcat kit. The Hornet likewise is not worth that money if it's the original Airfix kit.

Then there's the problem of variants.. said of the Hornet, that should be a Super Hornet (quite a different aircraft), the A-4 is also wrong as the ones in the movie were A-4E, not B like the Airfix kit. Not as different as the F-18A and E, but still visibly different variants. Now I can understand how Airfix would try to cash in on the interest for the movie by "casual" modellers, but personally I'd like to see some more interest in giving the right types instead of something that kind of looks like...

 

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It would be interesting for a set of kits that are far more accurate, but as you said, for the casual modeller, and perhaps for a kid wanting build a kit with the sibling/parent to get into the hobby,these could be great kick starters for them. 

 

relatively simple and straight forward for them, and a way to act out their fav scenes from the movies.....

 

I still remember building my Skyhawk as a kid which got me hooked into the hobby :)

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6 minutes ago, Mikey-1980 said:

It would be interesting for a set of kits that are far more accurate, but as you said, for the casual modeller, and perhaps for a kid wanting build a kit with the sibling/parent to get into the hobby,these could be great kick starters for them. 

 

relatively simple and straight forward for them, and a way to act out their fav scenes from the movies.....

 

I still remember building my Skyhawk as a kid which got me hooked into the hobby :)

 

If the kid is not bothered by the quality of the plastic, he will sure like these kits. It's not only a matter of accuracy but also of mould quality and fit.. the Tomcat has never been a good fitting kit and considering how old the mould is I wonder how it fares today...

The F-5 is a bit better, the A-4 is nice and I  can't comment on the fit of the Hornet

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I  wondered if with their recent re-boxing of Academy's Armour kits they might be the source of the F-18? the original Skyhawk is well past it's

sell by date and would probably inspire "modern" kids to take up needlecraft instead,I haven't handled the F-5 since it came in a poly bag in Iranian

colours and as Giorgio has said the Tomcat is not  a great fit or on the radar of many modellers these days I've just built an original 70's boxing 

though and quite enjoyed it.

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235066127-airfix-172-f14a-tomcat/

 

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4 minutes ago, stevej60 said:

I  wondered if with their recent re-boxing of Academy's Armour kits they might be the source of the F-18? the original Skyhawk is well past it's

sell by date and would probably inspire "modern" kids to take up needlecraft instead,I haven't handled the F-5 since it came in a poly bag in Iranian

colours and as Giorgio has said the Tomcat is not  a great fit or on the radar of many modellers these days I've just built an original 70's boxing 

though and quite enjoyed it.

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235066127-airfix-172-f14a-tomcat/

 

 

Steve, the F-5 in the Top Gun range is not the one that came with Iranian roundels. That one was an F-5A, first issued in 1966 and reboxed as recently as 2011 in a set with paints and brush.

What Airfix will offer as "MiG-28" is, correctly, their F-5E, a kit that was first issued in 1983 and that for some reason has not been made available too often over the years.

The F-5E is a nicer kit in some aspects but is the product of an era when Airfix made kits with very soft details. It hit the market around the same time of the Italeri kit and while both are acceptable, the Italian kit was better moulded and overall superior. The F-5E is a type that would really deserve a new state of the art kit...

 

As you've seen with your Tomcat, it was alredy not well fitting in its original form, I know that more recent issues received some modifications to bring the kit to the more recent configuration with a new boattail, but I guess that fit is now even worse...

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2 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

Steve, the F-5 in the Top Gun range is not the one that came with Iranian roundels.

Thank's Giorgio,can't recall seeing Airfix's re-vamped version.

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19 hours ago, stevej60 said:

I  wondered if with their recent re-boxing of Academy's Armour kits they might be the source of the F-18?

That's my hope, likewise that their new (very well-received) F-14 would be in an Airfix box - saving me (and everyone else) from having to track down aftermarket decals.

 

I can't for the life of me imagine why anyone would think the old Skyhawk would be in the new box. That would surely be a kind of suicide!! Plus the listing on Airfix's website says Jester's Skyhawk will this time have 116 parts. Interestingly the B/Q has 75...

 

Regardless, I'm very excited for the whole range. I've never been fortunate enough to happen upon the old kits and combined with the new types and newer decals - even if not necessarily new tools - I've found the announcements a very enticing proposition.

Edited by k5054nz
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