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


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Just now, sniperUK said:

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

 

Well, that's just typical since I've paid and pre-ordered £70 for the Buchon Scale Models 1/24 conversion set! 🤣 Mind you, I opted for the Mk XVIe set, so a silver lining there.

 

Great choice by Hornby. Can't wait!

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I'm pleased that Airfix feel that they can release a new super kit,

 

The Spitfire is a safe bet and I'm pleased it's a Mk.IX.

 

I do wish Airfix would release some 1/24th scale Erks to go with these kits.

 

Just one thing I've noticed on the renders, it looks like the cable run on the RHS has got some modern spiral wrap on it...:whistle:

 

Well done Airfix!  Now what have you got for us in 1/72 and 1/48??

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Quote

The entire range for 2022 will be as follows:

 

 

 

New tool:

 

1/24 Spitfire Mk.i/ia/iia/va

 

1/48 Seafire Mk.iii

 

1/48 Spitfire Hf.Mk.VII

 

1/72 Spitfire PR Type G

 

1/72 Spitfire Mk.XII

 

1/72 Seafire FR.47

 

1/72 Spitfire Mk.ib

 

 

 

Reissue:

 

1/48 Spitfire Mk.Va (based on Mki and Mkvb kit)

 

1/48 Spitfire Mk.Vb

 

1/48 Spitfire Mk.XII

 

1/48 Seafire F.XVII

 

1/48 Spitfire PR.XIX

 

1/48 Spitfire Mk.22/24

 

1/72 Spitfire Mk.i/ii/va

 

1/72 Spitfire PR.XIX

 

1/72 Spitfire Mk.Vc 

 

1/72 Spitfire Mk.Vc starter set

 

1/72 Spitfire Mk.22/24

 

Original 1955 1/72 Spitfire in vintage range

 

 

 

All other kits will be pulled from production.

 

Just remembered that I posted this in November. I wasn't far off for the flagship release now we just wait until tomorrow to see if I was close with the rest of this prediction 😂

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I wish them well with this, and hope it brings in well needed revenue.

I probably won't buy it as I already have two big (1/32) Spifires in my stash, and one is a mark IX. I imagine I'm not alone in that.

Edited by New Tool
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On the question of is who precisely are the "model-buying public"? I think the days of these type of model kits as toys or being built by and purchased by kids/on behalf of kids on an impulse are well past. I doubt even the original Super Kits range, as originally concieved, was ever aimed at anyone else other than modellers - despite the advertising illustrations in magazines of the day. As has been said before Airfix seem clear on who their main market is... and I really doubt its the casual buyer.

 

Rich 

 

Edited by RichG
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I dithered between a IX and then a V, but I thought a new tool Spitfire was a shoe-in. Looking at the test shots on the Airfix site, the way it's been done different engine fits should be easily done, so I reckon they can get earlier, or even later (XII) marks from the basic kit without too much effort. 

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1 hour ago, RichG said:

Question is who precisely are the "model-buying public"? I think the days of these type of model kits as toys or being built by and purchased by kids/on behalf of kids on an impulse are well past.

 

11 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.

 

I'm 18 and have been into this hobby for quite a few years so I think I have a pretty good perspective of what it was like only a few years ago for the pocket money modellers, and yes that is very much a demographic which still exists. They just rarely frequent forums like this (you'll find most with an online presence on Instagram and Reddit)

 

You can't afford to buy a lot of kits, so you choose carefully what you want. You most certainly cannot afford huge kits like this one. Maybe as a Christmas present for the ones who are really into scale modelling but most younger modellers won't be seeing this kit, so it's definitely not aimed at the general public. Only the 1/72 starter sets are, they are the gateway to the hobby.

For the nostalgia modellers who did this in the 1970s, 80s or 90s and are deciding to give it another go, does anyone really think they're going to go and buy a £100 superkit straight away? Of course they won't. Again, this kit is not suitable for the market of the general public.

 

I think the reality of why less young people are into scale models is partially down to competition from other forms of entertainment. The world moves on and forms of new technology and entertainment replaces the old. But I also think a large part of it is many of the younger people who start it feel priced out. I know it's a small sample size, but when discussing the recent Airfix price hike on Instagram, many younger modellers said that they aren't planning to get kits they otherwise would have now.

Certainly the 16-18 demographic where you might get your first job, be earning a bit of money and are then able to afford kits that are a bit more expensive (this is how I started building bigger expensive kits a few years ago) is feeling very much priced out. Since the beginning of 2021 the price hike has been just over 20% on the vulcan (I keep using that as an example just because I know vulcans), the minimum wage for under 18s was £4.55/hr at the beginning of 2021, then was raised to £4.62/hr in April. In April this year it will be raised again to £4.81. That's an increase of only 5.4%. The 18-20 bracket is only marginally better with an increase of 5.56%. It is indesputably becoming more difficult for younger modellers to afford hobbies like this. 

 

***

Edit:

Also adding that the lack of physical model shops, and certainly ones with good prices, a good variety and all the paints, brushes and other tools you'll need, doesn't help accessibility for younger pocket money modellers either if they don't have a debit card of their own to pay online with

***

 

And with regards to the it doesn't matter which variant it is thing,

 

When I started I definitely didn't know the difference between a Spitfire Mkia and Mkix, but look at me now rivet counting away on vulcans and being at least somewhat competent with Spitfires. Those modellers grow up and the ones who stick around do start to learn the differences between different types and begin to care a bit more. 

 

I think Denford's point about rebuying something you already have is a bit of a pointless point really. Airfix would never retool anything if that was such a barrier. Certainly not the Vulcan, which they had on sale for decades right up to 2019 and many modellers had built at some point. There's the Lancaster as well, how many built the old one and then the new one? A new kit from a major brand will sell itself by being new. People also build for the experience of building a nice kit. Enjoying the build and research is at least part of the reason I do so many conversions, it's the experience and yeah I have a fair few Vulcan B1/B1as but I enjoy cutting up the plastic and modifying it, same as someine else might enjoy a superb 1/24 kit with tons of detail so would buy it because they want to build it.

 

Edited by Adam Poultney
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@Adam Poultney

 

Agree with everything you said Well put!

 

I started modelling in the late 70s. Through 79 to 86, 90% of my purchases had to be series 1 Airfix kits or purple range Matchbox kits. That's about all I could afford. Every so often, a bit of extra money meant something a bit bigger like a light bomber and once in a very rare while, something with four engines!! I used to drool over the Airfix Superkits, but they were well outside of my price range and the domain of serious modellers that did conversions with balsa and brick mortar. I never got one for Christmas or birthdays despite my nagging. Aged 16 in 1986, I bought the 1/24 Spitfire with my first full time wage. I got there eventually. I agree that these models, with the exception of those kids lucky enough to get one as a present, were aimed squarely at the serious hobbyist. They still are.

 

Agree also on the many forms of entertainment that now grab the attention of the kids. I grew up as home computing and gaming started to kick in, and that certainly diverted a chunk of my attention. It may have diverted more if my Spectrum games hadn't kept crashing during loading from the cassette!

 

One thing I would also add. Us 60s and 70s kids grew up on a diet of WW2 based entertainment. Films, TV, comics, books, magazines, toys, grandparents and parents that were there sharing their stories. It was so ingrained in our consciences, that the urge to build plastic kits of all our favourite planes, ships and tanks from WW2 was almost a given. I think my first major distraction from all of that was the release of some obscure little Sci Fi film that came out in 77.

 

Steve 

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20 minutes ago, fightersweep said:

@Adam Poultney

 

A

 

One thing I would also add. Us 60s and 70s kids grew up on a diet of WW2 based entertainment. Films, TV, comics, books, magazines, toys, grandparents and parents that were there sharing their stories. It was so ingrained in our consciences, that the urge to build plastic kits of all our favourite planes, ships and tanks from WW2 was almost a given. I think my first major distraction from all of that was the release of some obscure little Sci Fi film that came out in 77.

 

Steve 

 

Throw in airshows too, seeing the best of what the 80's had to offer absolutely got my urge to do a kit even more, to the point of hassling my mum to buy a 24th Land Rover at Mildenhall, not because I liked it but because it was the only kit the trader had left that my mum would pay for!

Even in a mid size town as my own Ipswich the choice of kits/paints/sundries is pretty woeful, railway shop with paints/knives, a Games Workshop shop and a Hobbycraft a few miles away is about it, not the most easily reached hobby locally and almost certainly repeated across the country but that is how retail is now so modelling is not alone but then again the internet has brought us things that could never have been produced because lack of exposure.

Anyway, I digress, 24th Spitfire, not my thing but it should get the ching in Hornby's tills a bit louder and some other delicious stuff will be released in future for me to buy and probably not build 🙄

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15 hours ago, john224 said:

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.


You were close, very very close.

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2 hours ago, RichG said:

On the question of is who precisely are the "model-buying public"? I think the days of these type of model kits as toys or being built by and purchased by kids/on behalf of kids on an impulse are well past.

Airfix still reckon we vintage modellers only make 15-20% of their market.

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4 hours ago, trickydicky210 said:

Link to Airfix 1/24 Spit ix 

 

looks fantastic 

 

£94.99 RRP


Just pre-ordered, £70 Export price to Canada. £30 shipping.

 

I don’t normally pre-order from Airfix, I haven’t had a 1/24 kit since I was a kid in the 70s, I ordered this within seconds of seeing the announcement.

 

Way to go Airfix, great choice!

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2 hours ago, RichG said:

On the question of is who precisely are the "model-buying public"? I think the days of these type of model kits as toys or being built by and purchased by kids/on behalf of kids on an impulse are well past. I doubt even the original Super Kits range, as originally concieved, was ever aimed at anyone else other than modellers - despite the advertising illustrations in magazines of the day. As has been said before Airfix seem clear on who their main market is... and I really doubt its the casual buyer.

 

Rich 

 


I was certainly a kid when the kits released and I bought them, I think it was more of a kids hobby in the 70s.

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Is £94.99 the rrp or a preorder price? What I’m trying to clarify is if that price will increase when the kit is actually in the shops? I haven’t ordered directly from Airfix for a kit that isn’t actually available yet.

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