1/72 - Gloster Meteor F.Mk.8 by Airfix - released - new F.Mk.8/FR. Mk.9 boxing in July 2024

[Britman]

On 1/13/2022 at 8:02 PM, Cammer625 said:

24 quid - wow (translates to $47 AUD). Just as well I bought a few MPM RAAF ones for $25 AUD - I hate comments about about price (it is what it is) but this is a single seat, smallish jet.  Ok it’s big brother is now 47 quid.  I hadn’t looked at Airfix for a while and sadly this might continue. When they release a RAAF one I will still get one, but I’m a bit flabbergasted at the price.  Hoping that they end up similar in price as the Mosquito (mid 30’s) when they finally make their way to Down Under.

 

BUT, looks good so far!!  Loving all the new kits in 1/72 across the board!!

The Airfix staff member who joined our club the other day said that the other manufacturers will have to catch up or loose money. Cost at Airfix is taken seriously but outside forces are affecting decisions.

 

Keith

[viscount806x]

On 1/13/2022 at 1:56 AM, Rabbit Leader said:

Thats a T.7 with the earlier tail @Adam Poultney, you’d be better off starting out with an F.4 base kit. 

After all, that’s what Glosters did…..

[Giorgio N]

On 2/12/2022 at 11:50 AM, Britman said:

The Airfix staff member who joined our club the other day said that the other manufacturers will have to catch up or loose money. Cost at Airfix is taken seriously but outside forces are affecting decisions.

 

Keith

 

That's a strong statement from his side. other manufacturers may well have a different business model compared to Airfix and they may well make a profit without charging the prices this company is starting to charge. For a starter, not all manufacturers rely heavily on shipping from Asia as Airfix do, meaning that the huge increase in these costs will affect others less than Airfix.

Price increases, yes, we're going to see them from all manufacturers. Prices reaching the point of what Airfix is now charging... some may do it but others will not. And some may even increase their prices even more.

[keefr22]

10 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

Prices reaching the point of what Airfix is now charging...

 

And it's been said before - if Airfix want to start charging Tamiya or ZM type prices they'd really better start upping their game quality wise....

 

 

[Britman]

This may sound pro Airfix,it is not. But having vued a few of the years expected releases I cannot bring to mind anything that floats my boat . The 48th Buccaneer has been sought after by many for years, so many trying their hand at the old kit and always it seems crying out for a new on .  A decent 48th mainstream Anson, excellent and a good F8 Meteor, out will come all those after market decals or transfers as we used to call them. The 1/24th scale Spitfire will probably get my wallet open and under £100 to me is great value. I have seen Italeri , Revell and Tamaya in Hobbycraft, freightening prices. These are my own thoughts sparked by a casual conversation at my local club, but on reflection we have a hobby that is quite affordable. 

 

Keith

[stever219]

12 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

 

That's a strong statement from his side. other manufacturers may well have a different business model compared to Airfix and they may well make a profit without charging the prices this company is starting to charge. For a starter, not all manufacturers rely heavily on shipping from Asia as Airfix do, meaning that the huge increase in these costs will affect others less than Airfix.

Price increases, yes, we're going to see them from all manufacturers. Prices reaching the point of what Airfix is now charging... some may do it but others will not. And some may even increase their prices even more.

Hasegawa were charging £65 for a 1/72nd Liberator several years ago (my now-teenaged daughter was still in her pushchair) and Airfix's nearest equivalent, the AEW Shackleton at present, is still £15-£20 short of that, depending on where you shop

[IT_Man]

29 minutes ago, Britman said:

I have seen Italeri , Revell and Tamaya in Hobbycraft, freightening prices.

 

Worth noting that Hobbycraft seem to add an extra percentage onto the manufacturers RRP of most (if not all) of the above. In store at least.

 

Think I'd noticed it on the new Tamiya Marder that I'd picked up for RRP  less 10% elsewhere earlier that day, that they had added about another 10% onto.

[keefr22]

1 hour ago, stever219 said:

Hasegawa were charging £65 for a 1/72nd Liberator several years ago..... and Airfix's nearest equivalent, the AEW Shackleton at present, is still £15-£20 short of that, depending on where you shop

 

I believe it was the Hasegawa importers charging that price and it's always been the case that Hasegawa kits are ridiculously overpriced in the UK for whatever reason(s). At the moment HLJ have the B-24D listed in their home country for £30.40. Jadlam, who I find usually have some of the best prices in the UK are showing the Airfix Shack AEW for £44.95..... so, although I'm rubbish at maths I make that about 50% more!

 

 

 

[Richard Humm]

20 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

 

I believe it was the Hasegawa importers charging that price and it's always been the case that Hasegawa kits are ridiculously overpriced in the UK for whatever reason(s). At the moment HLJ have the B-24D listed in their home country for £30.40. Jadlam, who I find usually have some of the best prices in the UK are showing the Airfix Shack AEW for £44.95..... so, although I'm rubbish at maths I make that about 50% more!

 

 

 

Although if you add postage, it will be at least £15 from HLJ, while Jadlam do free postage on UK orders, which puts them about the same cost to get to your door. I haven't had a VAT charge on any of the three orders I've made from HLJ in the last year or so (after the new rules came in) so I don't know if that's still likely to happen.

[stever219]

14 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

 

I believe it was the Hasegawa importers charging that price and it's always been the case that Hasegawa kits are ridiculously overpriced in the UK for whatever reason(s). At the moment HLJ have the B-24D listed in their home country for £30.40. Jadlam, who I find usually have some of the best prices in the UK are showing the Airfix Shack AEW for £44.95..... so, although I'm rubbish at maths I make that about 50% more!

 

 

 

The B-24 may be £30.40 8n Japan but by the time you add in shipping costs, including the infamous Royal Snail/Parcelfarce Customs clearance fees, and VAT any saving is dramatically reduced or eliminated.

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Though if you'd pounced then the Airfix Shack was £30 at The Works until just before Xmas with free shipping! You can pick up a 1/48 Hunter at the same price right now from them...

 

TT

[Dave Fleming]

1 hour ago, TEXANTOMCAT said:

Though if you'd pounced then the Airfix Shack was £30 at The Works until just before Xmas with free shipping! You can pick up a 1/48 Hunter at the same price right now from them...

 

TT

 

I had a 20% off code and got mine for £24!

Edited February 14, 2022 by Dave Fleming

[Dave Fleming]

Back to Meteors, does this image hint at a separate nose piece (and there fore possible future FR9?)

 

[wadeocu]

I have traditionally resisted getting into the price discussion, but I will go ahead and make this point that I rarely see made on this topic.  Folks talk about the price of plastic, shipping, quality control, etc. driving prices but rarely does anyone mention the primary factor affecting any manufacturer's pricing decisions in any industry: supply and demand.  Let's face it, our hobby is an ever shrinking market.  With fewer and fewer kits sold year after year as customers die off, decide the stash is big enough or decide the cost of buying kits that won't be built is just too high, demand decreases and the manufacturers sell fewer and fewer kits.  Could they sell more loft insulating kits if the price was less?  Yes probably so but I have doubts that the demand at lower price points would over come the fact that there are just fewer of us in the market year after year.  As for my personal decisions to buy and the perceived value at any price point, I have always felt that the price is the price and the rest is up to me.  As for my primary interest on Airfix's 2022 release schedule - the 1/48 Buccaneer - my reaction to the MSRP is "I'll take 2 please", but my personal demand for that kit would still be what it is at just about any price.  Ours is a peculiar market with many things affecting it that don't affect other industries, but dwindling demand will set prices in an upward direction in any industry's market.           

[Fukuryu]

27 minutes ago, Dave Fleming said:

Back to Meteors, does this image hint at a separate nose piece (and there fore possible future FR9?)

 

It would make sense; after all, FR.9 is mentioned in the Workbench article about this new kit, albeit talking about the 1/48 version.

[keefr22]

3 hours ago, stever219 said:

The B-24 may be £30.40 8n Japan but by the time you add in shipping costs, including the infamous Royal Snail/Parcelfarce Customs clearance fees, and VAT any saving is dramatically reduced or eliminated.

 

That wasn't the point I was trying to make - your earlier post compared a Japanese manufacturer's kit's price in the UK with a home market - Airfix's - kit price. What I should have done was checked Airfix's Shack price in HLJ.

 

So, in Japan - Hasegawa B-24 - £30.40, Airfix Shackleton AEW £43.06.

 

What I did find surprising is the Airfix Lanc BI/III is cheaper in Japan at £26!

 

Keith

[stever219]

1 hour ago, keefr22 said:

 

That wasn't the point I was trying to make - your earlier post compared a Japanese manufacturer's kit's price in the UK with a home market - Airfix's - kit price. What I should have done was checked Airfix's Shack price in HLJ.

 

So, in Japan - Hasegawa B-24 - £30.40, Airfix Shackleton AEW £43.06.

 

What I did find surprising is the Airfix Lanc BI/III is cheaper in Japan at £26!

 

Keith

Sorry for my misundersranding; I'll have to read harder next time.😅😅

[keefr22]

3 hours ago, stever219 said:

Sorry for my misundersranding; I'll have to read harder next time.😅😅

 

Or I need to write more clearly...!!

 

[Foxbat]

21 hours ago, stever219 said:

The B-24 may be £30.40 8n Japan but by the time you add in shipping costs, including the infamous Royal Snail/Parcelfarce Customs clearance fees, and VAT any saving is dramatically reduced or eliminated.

 

No fees on parcels from Japan under £135. You can take that as gospel from someone who effectively uses HLJ as their LMS and orders about once a month from them. There's a sweet spot on shipping too, where the cost per parcel is spread over three or four kits so the saving is still substantial. As long as one of those kits isn't a 1/72 Emily - that wouldn't fit on the plane and has it's own personal ship  

 

Irrelevant in this case, I'll be looking for a Meteor and a few other new Airfix kits from my nearest bricks and mortar shop. 

 

Andy

[stever219]

51 minutes ago, Foxbat said:

 

Irrelevant in this case, I'll be looking for a Meteor and a few other new Airfix kits from my nearest bricks and mortar shop. 

 

Andy

Thanks for the comments re. shipping from HLJ.

 

Like you I'll be looking for a couple of Meteors from my nearest bricks n mortar LHS so I can use up some old Modeldecal & Xtradecal sheets.

[PhantomBigStu]

2 hours ago, Foxbat said:

 

No fees on parcels from Japan under £135. You can take that as gospel from someone who effectively uses HLJ as their LMS and orders about once a month from them. There's a sweet spot on shipping too, where the cost per parcel is spread over three or four kits so the saving is still substantial. As long as one of those kits isn't a 1/72 Emily - that wouldn't fit on the plane and has it's own personal ship  

 

Irrelevant in this case, I'll be looking for a Meteor and a few other new Airfix kits from my nearest bricks and mortar shop. 

 

Andy

£135?, I have been operating under the assumption it is was much lower and even a small order was risky, and not even considered ordering for a few years, perhaps I shall start browsing HLJ again.....

[alt-92]

I believe that exception may be specific for UK and Japan.

Us here on the mainland do get the VAT & Customs bill. Still worth it for certain marques & kits though!

 

[Dave Fleming]

The £135 limit is the one where the seller is supposed to collect the VAT payments and send them directly to C&E - HLJ do specify they collect these taxes for other countries, they may not have updated their website to reflect this. I can't find anything that provides a derogation on VAT for purchases from Japan.

 

I've never been charged in 20 years of occasional buying from HLJ, but have heard that bigger/heavier parcels are more likely to be intercepted.

[Wez]

23 hours ago, Dave Fleming said:

Back to Meteors, does this image hint at a separate nose piece (and there fore possible future FR9?)

 

 

Getting this back to Meteors, I don't know about the FR.9 but it would seem likely after all they did so in 1/48th.

 

I'm hoping the various colours on the CAD  drawings we're seeing are indicative of small and large breather intakes as well as pre and post Mod ailerons.  I'm quite looking forward to this, hopefully the outer wing won't be as thick as the MPM/Xtrakit/Special Hobby version.

[Dave Fleming]

41 minutes ago, Wez said:

 

I'm hoping the various colours on the CAD  drawings we're seeing are indicative of small and large breather intakes as well as pre and post Mod ailerons.  I'm quite looking forward to this, hopefully the outer wing won't be as thick as the MPM/Xtrakit/Special Hobby version.

 

If my refs are right, and looking at photos,  the 500 Squadron aircraft has the smaller intakes, the 74 Squadron one has the larger ones, so hopefully both are in the kit.

 

Can you remind me of the aileron differences?