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New 1:24 Airfix Spitfire mk1a


geedubelyer

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Two clues

1. Airfix boast a new tooled kit with a flash saying its a 'New Tool' kit, this doesn't have that

2. The end of the code number is a V, The Airfix code letter for a 'Vintage Classic' kit

therefore its the old 1970 Kit

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I really think that Airfix are missing something here and if they are not careful are going to be left behind big time.

 

I have made three of these in the long distant past.  They are pretty basic but but with a bit of effort can be made into a great finished model. I would love to do the 109E which I understand is also going to be re-released, contacted Airfix and its old tooling, same with their 1/12 Bentley. There seem to be quite a few 109's by other manufacturers in 1/24 but the 'G' not the 'E'.

 

Vintage Classic badge can in someways be a bit misleading unless you know about the V in the product code.  I have a really early (by the look of it) 1/12 Bentley but I have no idea if its of the first tooling or not.  If anyone can tell me how I would be grateful and love to know

 

Si

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6 minutes ago, Simon Dyer said:

. . . 

Vintage Classic badge can in someways be a bit misleading unless you know about the V in the product code.  I have a really early (by the look of it) 1/12 Bentley but I have no idea if its of the first tooling or not.  If anyone can tell me how I would be grateful and love to know

this may help;  https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/airfixtributeforum/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=975

courtesy of the Airfix Tribute Forum

and: https://www.scalemates.com/search.php?fkSECTION[]=Kits&q=airfix+1%2F12+bentley

and: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/airfix-2001-1930-bentley--183279

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3 hours ago, Simon Dyer said:

I really think that Airfix are missing something here and if they are not careful are going to be left behind big time.

 

I have made three of these in the long distant past.  They are pretty basic but but with a bit of effort can be made into a great finished model. I would love to do the 109E which I understand is also going to be re-released, contacted Airfix and its old tooling,

 

These 1/24 kits are massive investments with a limited niche customer base and the company has very limited capacity to invest. In any given 2-3 year period they can either do a new Spitfire or they can do a new something else. We could have had a replacement 1/24 Spitfire I and 109E, but then we would not have had a completely new Typhoon and Hellcat. They've chosen to do new subjects and it's hard to say those kits should have been sacrificed when the old ones still make money.

 

3 hours ago, Simon Dyer said:

I have a really early (by the look of it) 1/12 Bentley but I have no idea if its of the first tooling or not.  If anyone can tell me how I would be grateful and love to know

 

 

Are you not familiar with Scalemates? You can look anything up there and see its lineage

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/airfix-2001-1930-bentley--183279

 

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1 hour ago, Peter Roberts said:

Looking forward to lots of after market for these! :)

 

You don’t really need loads of aftermarket... in my experience, a copy of the Pilot’s Notes, the spitfirespares web site, and a variety of styrene rods, tubes and sheet can get you a long way!

best,

M.

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Indeed, and the two old books remain incredibly useful and easily-followed how-to guides for gussying them up using little more than some scrap materials and modelling skills. The 1/24 kits have never really attracted a lot of aftermarket, presumably because they sell in such small numbers compared to the mainstream 1/48 kits

 

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airfix-24-bf109-classic-aircraft-book_36

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AND This is its product details:

 

Product Code: A12001V

1:24 Scale Plastic Kit

Skill Level: 3

Flying Hours: 4

Dimensions (mm): L468 x W381

Number of Parts: 156

Requires Painting: Yes

Glue & Paints Included: No

Weight: 2.50 KG

The immortal Spitfire was the most famous fighter of theSecond World War and one of the greatest warplanes of all time. When the Battle of Britain began in the summer of 1940 there were nineteen squadrons of Spitfires in action. The two Spitfires for which markings are supplied represent different moments of the battle as it raged from the hot summer days into the cold winter of 1940. The first is the iconic DW-K of No.610 ‘County of Chester’ Squadron, with its large code letters and oversized roundels that instantly evoke the Battle of Britain. Based at Biggin Hill, DW-K was initially believed to be P9495 (included in this kit) which joined the squadron in June 1940 and was eventually damaged in a dogfight with a Messerschmitt 109 in August 1940, with the codes then transferred to another Spitfire. The other aircraft is X4561, QJ-B of No.92 Squadron based at Manston, Kent, December 1940 and reflects the changes to operational camouflage at the time with the underside of the port wing being painted black as a recognition aid. This fabulous model will show the cockpit, Merlin engine,gun ports and other great detail.

 

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34 minutes ago, cmatthewbacon said:

You don’t really need loads of aftermarket... in my experience, a copy of the Pilot’s Notes, the spitfirespares web site, and a variety of styrene rods, tubes and sheet can get you a long way!

 

Totally agree. Scratch building the extra detail is quite enjoyable in 1/24, and of course, references aren't too tricky to find. It is an old kit, but still provides a good basis for a great build. I still like it far above the Trumpeter Mk V. 

 

There is some aftermarket out there. Grey Matter does a replacement aerial, seat, control column and U/C selector. The seat is very good and needed as the kit seat is way over scale. There's a chap on eBay (I'll post the link when I find it) that does replacement resin wheels and a boxed in wheel well mod (although that's easy enough to scratch). There's also the Waldron placard set that gives some lovely details including a working throttle quadrant. To be honest, anything else can be added by the modeller. I didn't bother with the engine as I like the buttoned up/ready to go look, but I did re-do the entire cockpit and the radiator area to better represent the real thing. Biggest thing this kit needs is a wing spar as those big wings tend to lack dihedral once built.

 

9 hours ago, Simon Dyer said:

I would love to do the 109E which I understand is also going to be re-released

 

The 109E is very similar to the Spitfire and requires the same amount of work, but is still a nice starting point for a great build. I've never been able to determine the accuracy of the big Airfix Emil though. Some say it's slightly overscale. I've got some 1/24 Emil plans (I can't vouch for how good they are) and everything lines up except the rear fuselage which is too long by nearly an inch. I really must try to verify this.

 

Overall, still good kits that need extra work to pop, but more than doable in 1/24. Glad to see these kits in the "Classic Range" boxes because, Corrrrr!, that artwork. I'll never tire of looking at those Roy Cross masterpieces!

 

Steve

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11 minutes ago, HOUSTON said:

The first is the iconic DW-K of No.610 ‘County of Chester’ Squadron, with its large code letters and oversized roundels that instantly evoke the Battle of Britain. Based at Biggin Hill, DW-K was initially believed to be P9495 (included in this kit) which joined the squadron in June 1940 and was eventually damaged in a dogfight with a Messerschmitt 109 in August 1940, with the codes then transferred to another Spitfire. The other aircraft is X4561, QJ-B of No.92 Squadron based at Manston, Kent, December 1940 and reflects the changes to operational camouflage at the time with the underside of the port wing being painted black as a recognition aid. 

 

That's interesting. Markings provided for DW-K and QJ-B, but Al Deere's "Kiwi" on the box top. Seems a bit odd not to have the option of KL-B in the box.

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50 minutes ago, Work In Progress said:

Indeed, and the two old books remain incredibly useful and easily-followed how-to guides for gussying them up using little more than some scrap materials and modelling skills. The 1/24 kits have never really attracted a lot of aftermarket, presumably because they sell in such small numbers compared to the mainstream 1/48 kits

 

Seconded on the PSL books. Still useful and relevant to this day. I'm really not sure why there isn't much aftermarket for these kits. The Spitfire and Emil have more or less been a constant in the Airfix catalogue since release. I would imagine a lot have sold over those years. I suppose the real question is how many actually get built? I've got a healthy stash of Airfix 1/24 kits, including six of the Spitfires waiting in the sidelines. I would hoover up any aftermarket for them, and whether they would ever get used would be a different matter, but that aftermarket would still get bought. However, we're a small market which doesn't include all those "Johnnys" that got an Airfix Superkit at numerous Christmases over the year and didn't want to super detail their models. I guess the reasons are varied.

 

I did hear rumblings of a complete cockpit set being worked on. We can hope I suppose.

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53 minutes ago, fightersweep said:

I'm really not sure why there isn't much aftermarket for these kits. The Spitfire and Emil have more or less been a constant in the Airfix catalogue since release. I would imagine a lot have sold over those years.

I think it's as simple as: go look in the RFI section here and see how many 1/24 Spitfires there are, and how many 1/48 Spitfires.

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1 minute ago, Work In Progress said:

I think it's as simple as: go look in the RFI section here and see how many 1/24 Spitfires there are, and how many 1/48 Spitfires.

 

I agree, but my point was how many had sold as opposed to being built. I think most are still loft insulation, which means there a lot of nice dusty "Red Stripe" boxings out there somewhere.

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There may or may not be, but good luck anyone whose business model is selling a lot of expensive resin or PE for stuff that no-one really builds, outside a tiny niche interest. Even the decal action has always been minimal compared to the popular scales, and frankly decals are easy to scale up in situations like an RAF service Spitfire I where you don;t have to have anything carefully fitted to the accuracy quirks of a specific kit.

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15 hours ago, Work In Progress said:

 

These 1/24 kits are massive investments with a limited niche customer base and the company has very limited capacity to invest. In any given 2-3 year period they can either do a new Spitfire or they can do a new something else. We could have had a replacement 1/24 Spitfire I and 109E, but then we would not have had a completely new Typhoon and Hellcat. They've chosen to do new subjects and it's hard to say those kits should have been sacrificed when the old ones still make money.

 

 

Are you not familiar with Scalemates? You can look anything up there and see its lineage

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/airfix-2001-1930-bentley--183279

 

Yes I am aware of Scalemates however, what limited time I do have I try and spend on Britmodeller, though still trying to get my head around the site.  Thank you for the link and I will definitely use it more in the future (another site to get my not tech savvy head around 😭😂). Looks like I have an early 1970's kit so should be good👍

 

Thanks again

 

Si

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Talking of re-releasing 'Vintage Airfix' what about the 24th Harrier ??

I built one of these donkeys years back and have never seen any since . . . .

 

I suspect it was/Is the only large scale around at the time . . . .

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/airfix-18001-hawker-harrier--135957#

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2 hours ago, Work In Progress said:

Last out in 1997 I see, I wonder if they irreversibly changed the tooling to make the more recent Sea Harrier versions?

It was the GR3 kit with a new sprue with the SHAR nose. You had to cut off the GR3 nose and fit the SHAR nose as part of the build.

 

Selwyn 

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