For your agenda - Monday 10th January - 4.PM - Airfix 2022 range launch

[Ratch]

On 07/01/2022 at 12:23, IT_Man said:

So that the website isn't down all day like usual? 🤔 

It'll just be overnight

[mick b]

On 1/7/2022 at 7:21 PM, Beermonster1958 said:

 

£39.99 for the Lancaster, B-17 and Wellington. £33.99 for the Buccaneers and Phantom. £23 for the Blenheim and Mosquito, £72 for the Javelin, to name but a few!
Airfix won't have sanctioned these rises without good reason but, customers will vote with their wallets!

Ok , its personal choice to buy or not but, at these price levels, Airfix isn't likely to be getting much of my money in 2022, regardless of what is released.

By the way, I do accept that huge price increases are not confined to Airfix

Just as well I have a large stash into which I can make inroads! 😉😂

 

John

I’ve mentioned pricing before when the Vampire came out and was essentially shot down for not allowing for shipping etc. Airfix are catching up Hasegawa at this rate 😂 The hobby has been out of reach of kids wallets for a long time, even if you can get them off the Xbox. The hobby is aimed at us middle aged blokes with a bit of disposable income to buy kits and aftermarket to line our lofts with...are Hornby aiming their train sets at kids..at 200-300 quid a loco/ set definitely not.

 

Mike

[Ratch]

On 07/01/2022 at 13:03, Adam Poultney said:

yikes. They're rapidly making this hobby unaffordable to younger modellers. iirc the original price was £58.99 same as the Victor? That's already quite expensive but justifiable. So few younger people are getting into scale modelling as it is but this just won't help. 

 

This is outpacing inflation so it can't be completely blamed on that, other factors are at play here. I imagine it's largely to do with increased shipping and handling costs - I'm sure we all know what that's down to but let's not discuss that here please. 

If the prices need to go up because of increased costs, then fine, but I think Airfix would do well to lower or at least freeze the price of the new simplified starter sets given the target audience and that it is an entry point to the hobby. 

My home fuel payments have almost doubled this month. The Airfix price rise seems almost insignificant. Surely this has taken no-one by surprise.

[Ratch]

On 07/01/2022 at 13:06, trickydicky210 said:

Cant see why they would mention this if unless there is some sort of announcement albeit new tool or not.

To generate traffic on their social media

[Des]

1 minute ago, Ratch said:

My home fuel payments have almost doubled this month. The Airfix price rise seems almost insignificant. Surely this has taken no-one by surprise.

 

Sign of the times , everything is going up but it only seems to be the increases to more expensive items / services that we really take note of.

 

For a while every now and then my wife or I will point out an increase on some item of weekly grocery shopping and we will dismiss it 'as only making a few pence of a difference'  whereas in reality on low value items it equates to a lot of double figure percent increases that are gradually mounting up.

 

Although we still might be tempted to think of Airfix in terms of pocket money prices at Woolies it (like Italeri and more recently Revell Germany were for a time) left the bargain end of the hobby some time ago for much of its range although fortunately has not yet reached the level of Hasegawa excesses for their largely aged product line.

[New Tool]

 

Based on recent releases:

 

Following on from the Wellington, Whitley, B25, B17, Beaufort in 1/72:

- Hampden

- Hudson

- Anson

- Battle

 

Following on after the Walrus in 1/48:

- Lysander

- Anson

- Battle

 

Following on after the Sea Fury in 1/48:

- Firefly

 

In 1/24: any of the above, but they might well try to do something novel and unexpected as they did with the Hellcat:

- Hawk 75 / P-36 Hawk 

- Dewoitine D520

- Macchi C.202

- Boomerang

Edited January 8, 2022 by New Tool
For clarity

[john224]

1 hour ago, VMA131Marine said:

The 1/24 Spitfire Mk.Ia was the first Airfix “Superkit” and has been in the catalogue, if not continuously then with few breaks since it’s release in 1970; it’s over 50 years old and, to be quite frank, the tooling is shot. As the first Airfix 1/24 kit, it’s also not close to the level of detail that was achieved with the Hurricane and Ju 87B. A new tool should be made because, despite its flaws, the Airfix kit is still a better representation of a Spitfire than the awful Trumpeter kit. A new Mk.I or V in 1/24 would sell, and sell in large numbers. It should be a no-brainer to do it.

I'm thinking a 1/24 Vc.  Given how the Spitfire itself was developed, if done properly with the sprues properly organised, a I, II or IX should easily be possible from a basic V kit, perhaps even a XII.

[Adam Poultney]

1 hour ago, Julien said:

Glass is half empty chap are you? cant understand pre doom and gloom at all, lets just wait an see eh? and maybe be happy for what we do get.

Maybe he has the inside scoop on what's coming and it'll be ALL Spitfires and nothing else!

[Denford]

4 hours ago, VMA131Marine said:

The 1/24 Spitfire Mk.Ia was the first Airfix “Superkit” and has been in the catalogue, if not continuously then with few breaks since it’s release in 1970; it’s over 50 years old and, to be quite frank, the tooling is shot. As the first Airfix 1/24 kit, it’s also not close to the level of detail that was achieved with the Hurricane and Ju 87B. A new tool should be made because, despite its flaws, the Airfix kit is still a better representation of a Spitfire than the awful Trumpeter kit. A new Mk.I or V in 1/24 would sell, and sell in large numbers. It should be a no-brainer to do it.

Where did you get the information that the tooling was shot?  Is it just supposition based on its age - remember it's not been in continuous production.

But regarding a new tool of a 1/24 Spitfire or anything else to this scale, this is a huge investment.  Others may have more precise figures, but Hornby Hobby is still some £3 million in debt, event though they made a profit of £240,000 last year.  So there's still a long climb to solvency and with Interest Rates rising, the slope is becoming steeper...

Add up the selling prices of 2021's kits (excluding the Vulcan) and it falls well short of that of any 1/24 subject, so it would seem unlikely the funding is available, never mind the lead time to recover the investment.

As to a new tool Spitfire (elsewhere lX seems to be the favourite) selling in 'large numbers', how many of those having the Mk1 would now buy the new one too ?  To the model-buying public (to whom the majority of sales are made) a Spitfire is just a Spitfire and are surely more likely to buy something else rather than repeat what they already have.

[john224]

3 hours ago, Denford said:

 

As to a new tool Spitfire (elsewhere lX seems to be the favourite) selling in 'large numbers', how many of those having the Mk1 would now buy the new one too ?  To the model-buying public (to whom the majority of sales are made) a Spitfire is just a Spitfire and are surely more likely to buy something else rather than repeat what they already have.

The same argument could be applied to the Vulcan, and yet they re-tooled that.

 

[VMA131Marine]

5 hours ago, Denford said:

Where did you get the information that the tooling was shot?

It’s based on copies of the kit that I have. The quality of the parts produced most recently is quite bad.

[LN-KEH]

9 hours ago, New Tool said:

 

Based on recent releases:

 

Following on from the Wellington, Whitley, B25, B17, Beaufort in 1/72:

- Hampden

- Hudson

- Anson

- Battle

 

Following on after the Walrus in 1/48:

- Lysander

- Anson

- Battle

 

Following on after the Sea Fury in 1/48:

- Firefly

 

In 1/24: any of the above, but they might well try to do something novel and unexpected as they did with the Hellcat:

- Hawk 75 / P-36 Hawk 

- Dewoitine D520

- Macchi C.202

- Boomerang

In 1:24 a Zero would be more likely.

[VMA131Marine]

5 hours ago, Denford said:

As to a new tool Spitfire (elsewhere lX seems to be the favourite) selling in 'large numbers', how many of those having the Mk1 would now buy the new one too ?

Spitfires sell the same way that Bf 109s and P-51Ds sell. We keep getting new tools of these subjects because manufacturers know that they will make back their investment (maybe you noticed that Revell produced new tool kits of the Spitfire, P-51D, and Bf 109G in 1/32 despite having molds of these kits in their tool bank).

[Black Knight]

12 hours ago, Neil Lambess said:

As someone who was in the trade ,and imported kits from Eastern European dealers Airfix could learn a trick and supply flat boxes and sprue's. Which makes smaller airlifted shipments viable . Or at least downsize the boxes to the 1970s sizes as all shipping is now volumetric so at  a large chunk of the insane container pricing is currently shipping air not plastic .

afaik Airfix get the kits in their bags but the instruction leaflets and boxes are done in England

Some years ago Airfix showed a 'teaser' photo of a then new kit, loads of, all bagged and in one large brown delivery box. They said it had just arrived with them, like that, dozens of bagged grey plastic kits in one box

[Denford]

On 1/4/2022 at 5:46 PM, percival p. said:

Unless I imagined it, I remember seeing on a BM post that Airfix visited the Fleet Air Arm museum sometime early in 2020. If I have remembered correctly, then I reckon that the result should be due to appear this year. Looking at the list of exhibits in the museum, it seems to me the two stand out candidates are the Avenger and the Corsair. Both of which would be replacements for the 50+ year old kits.

Don't forget the Sea Hawk.  The original 1/72 was issued in 1958!  New tool could be its replacement, or in 1/48 to 'stand alongside' its younger brother the Sea Fury.

[New Tool]

1 hour ago, LN-KEH said:

In 1:24 a Zero would be more likely.

 

I have the (less than perfect) 1/24 Zero  that Trumpeter tooled in 2003. That year they also released the Rufe float-plane in that scale.

Ki 61 maybe? It could sell well.

The dilemma for them must be trying to find a popular subject that hasn't been over-done. 

Edited January 9, 2022 by New Tool

[Rabbit Leader]

Why not a Dornier Do335, a very popular subject (for some reason) and waaaaay over done in the other popular scales but amazingly nothing in 1/24th! 
 

Cheers.. Dave (I’m joking of course!). 

[ABeck]

Big Mustang III   ?

[IanC]

11 hours ago, Ratch said:

My home fuel payments have almost doubled this month. The Airfix price rise seems almost insignificant...

 

Indeed. And if we only bought enough kits to actually build, rather than stashing them away as very expensive loft insulation, we'd notice it even less. 😄

[jenko]

One more sleep to go and tension is mounting.  Modellers are  hallucinating. Our fairy god mothers are getting bored with all the wants we want.

 

And the result is.............................

 

 

Wrong subject, wrong mark, wrong scale, wrong markings,

 

Oh well there is always next year.     Se la vie.

 

Happy modelling 

 

Dick

 

 

[fightersweep]

11 hours ago, New Tool said:

In 1/24: any of the above, but they might well try to do something novel and unexpected as they did with the Hellcat:

- Hawk 75 / P-36 Hawk 

- Dewoitine D520

- Macchi C.202

- Boomerang

 

I'll be honest. I don't think Airfix would ever consider investing in any of those subjects (as cool as they would all be). The Hellcat was certainly unexpected, but not novel. After all, it's probably the most famous USN fighter of WW2. Any other 1/24 subject is going to have to be a banker for Airfix. I agree with other comments here that the current 1/24 Spitfire is long in the tooth now, and a replacement to their modern standards would be most welcome. I guess it would be either another Mk 1, Mk V or my money would be on a Mk IX (despite really wanting a 1/24 Mk XIV) I think the same applies to the Bf 109E, and I think a newer Emil would sell a lot of kits for Hornby. Aside from that, any other release would more than likely be a well known, major WW2 type and most likely either a British, US or German subject. A Corsair would have a lot of mileage, as would a P-40 and P-51B. A Me 262 could be possible, and would bridge the gap between the range being entirely WW2 based and providing their first jet in that scale. As for British types? I'm not sure to be honest. A Tempest and Sea Fury would be great, but maybe just too closely related to the Typhoon? Then again, it's documented that Airfix did seriously consider the Gloster Gladiator back in the 70s. That's a nice thought! Still, it's all supposition, and only Airfix know their plans. I'm sure whatever the subject is, I'll probably buy one!

[Heraldcoupe]

On 12/24/2021 at 5:58 PM, Heraldcoupe said:

With Airfix holding an all-day event at Duxford celebrating the Spitfire, on the day before their 2022 range is officially announced, a new 1/24th Spitfire seems quite likely.
To me the question is which variant? We've all known the Mk1 tooling has been past it's best for some time, but might they do a MkIX instead of a direct replacement?

 

https://uk.airfix.com/products/supermarine-spitfire-mkixc-a17001?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=New+Super+Kit&utm_campaign=Airfix-+New+Kit+-+week+41+21%2F22

[Ratch]

New Super Kit Spitfire Mk.IXc

Airfix is excited to reveal the NEW SUPER KIT, Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXc!

The Supermarine Spitfire enjoys a legacy which is as strong today as it was during the wartime years. A modern monoplane fighter aircraft, the Spitfire would earn its legendary reputation during the Battle of Britain, when the pilots of the Royal Airforce stood defiently against the overwhelming might of the all-conquering Luftwaffe. It is an aviation beacon of hope for a nation and its people during their darkest hour.

Elegant and graceful to look at, the Spitfire's appearance masked the fact that this was a deadly fighting aeroplane and one which was adaptable enough to undergo almost conostant development throughout the wartime years.

Airfix are proud to reveal this New Super Kit to you, available for pre-order.

[fightersweep]

2 minutes ago, Heraldcoupe said:

 

https://uk.airfix.com/products/supermarine-spitfire-mkixc-a17001?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=New+Super+Kit&utm_campaign=Airfix-+New+Kit+-+week+41+21%2F22

 

Crikey! Is that a leak by Hornby or an early April fools?

[sniperUK]

Just now, fightersweep said:

 

Crikey! Is that a leak by Hornby or an early April fools?

Not a leak, what do you think the Spitfire day at Duxford was for 😄