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AIRFIX 2022 HIT OR MISS?


trickydicky210

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To start with I'm an Airfix fan. (yes I have taken my meds. :analintruder: ) I have to be as they are just down the road from me.

 

After the Big Spit announcement I was not expecting much to be honest. However the Buc. Wow. Normally this would be the star of the show. Sort of just slipped in there. It looks like Hornby are listening to us mortal modellers and they try and give something for every one.. May be not every year but over a few consecutive years. They are producing home grown subjects to a high standard that a few years ago we would only dream of.  

OK. Subjects like the Javelin we would tend to make only one of. Spitfires are another story. 

 

All I can say is. Thank you Airfix and keep them coming.

 

Overall a big 10/10.  Looking forward to next year.

 

You can satisfy all the modellers half the time ,and half the modellers all the time. But not all the modellers all the time.

 

Dick

 

(can I get an overdraft??)

Edited by jenko
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While there wasn’t anything that I was particularly interested in, I think the announcements played a strong hand. Good range of starter kits, new cars at a different scale, big new tool aircraft… Yes, there were gaps, favourites and hobby horses didn’t appear, but I hope the range sells well.
 

As for further announcements, did anyone else spot the rather elusive 1/35th Austin Katy ambulance kit in the background of the reveal video? I’m rather with the other poster who suggested there may be further announcements later in the year - not new tools, as such, but more goodies to tempt us.

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I've already pre ordered three! 

 

For me, the str is the 1/48 Anson, I remember making 2 of 3 copies of the old 1/72 scale kit and was captivated by it. 

The Spitfire IX is incredibly welcome, I should have finished the re-issued vintage Mark 1 when it arrives. 

Last, but by no means least, the Buccaneer.  In my stash I have the old 1/48 kit, a real terror to build I understand so I never faced up to the challenge! That will be an interesting comparison build. 

 

For next year I'd love a 1/24 EE Lightning.... 

 

Overall, well done Airfix! 

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I share the views of others that this was a good set of releases for the long term viability of the Airfix brand and the Hornby Group. They have identified a market segment, 1:48 British aircraft, where they are likely to maintain an monopoly and are focusing their.

 

Taking one wish list item - the Lysander - unlike the 1970's there are not enough customers to support three models of this Aircraft (Airfix, Matchbox, Frog/Novo) we now have one from Dora wings. It no seems that the Eastern European manufacturers have cornered the market for 1:72nd and 1:144nd British niche Aircraft and there would be no great profits for Airfix if they chose to duplicate then. Although the Meteor F8 might be seen to disprove that theory.

 

So it's a good year for Airfix but a poor year for me. At least I can concentrate on clearing my stash through joining in Group Builds.

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40 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

As for further announcements, did anyone else spot the rather elusive 1/35th Austin Katy ambulance kit in the background of the reveal video?

That was announced for last year, appears to be one of the victims of the pandemic delays.

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I’m slightly surprised given that it’s 2022 not to see a rerelease of the 1/350 Illustrious with markings for a sister ship or two, a Black Buck Vulcan and Victor K2, and a Harrier vs Skyhawk “Dogfight Double”… though the marketeer in me is saying it might be risky in a global market…

best,

M.

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17 minutes ago, 224 Peter said:

For me, the str is the 1/48 Anson

 

For me as well. 

 

12 minutes ago, Paul821 said:

They have identified a market segment, 1:48 British aircraft, where they are likely to maintain an monopoly and are focusing their.

 

Good on you Airfix. Buccaneer will also get my money. Keep going. I feel certain one day, in the not to distant future, I will get my 1/48 Hampden.

 

Ray

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I think it's a very impressive list and had I not lost almost all my interest in aircraft modelling (switching to armour and figures) over the last couple of years, I'd be spending money, lots of money. Good luck Airfix and I'll be looking forward to seeing some handsome examples built on here. 

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Definitely the Anson , would like the Buccaneer but to be honest at that price and with the last double pack release of their original1/48 Bucc still among the hundreds of kits in the loft cannot justify it . . . . .  YET !!!!!       

 

Pity that the Victor re-release does not seem (at the moment anyway) combine the options from both previous releases as was done with the recent Valiant re-box.     Admittedly that involved parts from a separate update kitas opposed to the Victor K.2/BSR release which were additional sprues which might be a production issues.

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3 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

As for further announcements, did anyone else spot the rather elusive 1/35th Austin Katy ambulance kit in the background of the reveal video? I’m rather with the other poster who suggested there may be further announcements later in the year - not new tools, as such, but more goodies to tempt us.

 

The Katy was announced in lat years big reveal and is one of 2021's new kits that have slipped on delivery date, Gecko also announced a K2 kit slightly later and it's also slipped on release date but is due out fairly soon. 

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14 minutes ago, AntPhillips said:

The Katy was announced in lat years big reveal and is one of 2021's new kits that have slipped on delivery date


I know that. I wonder if it was placed as a hint it won’t be much longer in arriving.

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10 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

 

I can see why 1/72 fans would be slightly disappointed, as the F.8 Meteor has been well served by MPM / Special Hobby so there’s nothing really new for them. On the other hand there’s bound to be something on offer for silly mixed scale modellers like myself and the thought of a large detailed Anson is a huge and pleasant surprise. I cannot wait to get my hands on this kit when its eventually released. Well played Airfix. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

I have a feeling 1/48 is where the future of Airfix lies anyway, year on year they are making more at that scale.

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For me it's 60% a miss 40% a hit.

 

Main point of disappointment would have to be the lazy reissues. The Victor, He111, Blenheim and C47 are all just straight reissues of versions from 7 or 8 years ago. No changes of the decals. Particularly for the Victor if they want to put a more than 20% price hike on it, regardless of the reason, that just isn't good enough. In a £72 kit I'd like more than two schemes that have been done before to choose from (and yes I know you can get aftermarket but that's just more money to spend on an already expensive kit). I bet they haven't fixed the error in the instructions which tell you to cut off the wrong bit.

Now don't misunderstand, I love that the Victor is back in the range. I get why the price is up given the current shipping costs and other factors, but I think Airfix should give us something a little more if it's going to cost that much, adding extra decals isn't going to increase the cost of manufacture too much.

I'm very disappointed that the Victor is the Blue Steel version given that it's the 40th anniversary of the Falkands this year, I'm sure plenty would like to build the K2 that was released a few years ago in a Falkands scheme, but that's not the end of the wold, a Victor is a Victor and the variant is just my preference.

 

The increased prices are just not reflective of quality now. I can buy Eduard's 1/48 P51 for about £16 but the Airfix kit, which I believe is the inferior kit is £29. Why should I buy the Airfix one if I wanted to build a 1/48 P51? So that 1/48 P51 reissue is a miss. 

 

Reissues that are a hit with me are the Do17, Spitfire 22, late harrier (although I probably won't but one since I already have GR.1 stashed) and the Lightning. The Victor is neutral because Victors are available again but I'm not too happy about the aforementioned issues with the decals. Same for the He111. Blenheim is a miss because of the unchanged decals (I don't think they were exactly hard to find so being available again doesn't swing it). C47 is neutral, same as the Victor and He111.

 

The Buccaneer is nice but I'd a little disappointed by the lack of variety in the schemes for a £72 kit, I'd have liked to see more than the same overall ESDG with minor variations. Not too much of an issue for me because the Bucc in my scale has already been released, I have the 1/72 one and will probably buy another at some point to make into an S1. This one is neutral for me, I love that we have  a retooled 1/48 Bucc but £72 is a bit steep and not my scale. 

 

The 1/24 Spitfire is one I'll enjoy seeing finished builds of but I feel that these 1/24 kits probably mean we get less other new tools. 1/24 kits are nice enough but there are a lot of modellers who don't want them, myself included. To be honest I'd rather have seen two or three more smaller kits instead of the 1/24 Spit but at the same time the Spit did need doing. Hit for most, but neutral for me.

 

Then there's more Spitfires! The 1/48 XII is back, it's a flawed pre-lidar kit with shape issues. No thanks at £29.99. The XVIII is probably based on the recent XIV so should be nice, but I don't think I'll be getting one. That is four Spitfires in the range this year! Plus whichever ones are staying from previous years (almost certainly the 1/72 Mk.ia, 1/72 Mk.Vc and 1/48 MkV). I think one less Spitfire to make room for something else (even just a Seafire) would have been appreciated. Miss.....

 

I'm happy that we finally have a good modern (probably) accurate Meteor so I will get one but it's not something I'm overly excited about just one that I think oh that's nice might as well add one to my collection. The scheme choices are superb, three different looking options. I will probably go for the silver scheme with the blue tail. This is the only new tool I think I'll be getting this year, so hit!

 

I think £17.99 is very steep for the RNZAF Vampire starter set reissue. Didn't this used to be about £12 or something? Also with the new range of simplified starter sets now around I think they could rebrand all the regular kits in starter boxes as an "Advanced Starter Set" or something. Miss.

 

Speaking of simplified starter sets, three new car ones! I love that they expanded this range and did so with something other than just aircraft, although I'd have preferred one car, one aircraft, one tank or something. Not a big deal just happy to see the starter range expanded. Hit!

 

1/48 Anson. Well I knew Airfix were working on an Anson, probably in 1/48 due for release this year or next. Glad to see that info was accurate but honestly this isn't one I'll be getting. In 1/72 maybe, but even then Ansons aren't something I'm overly interested in. Miss.

 

Swordfish is a hit! Would like one of these and it's got some nice new schemes.

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Whilst I was impressed by the kits shown, I was quite surprised not to see any new dogfight doubles which seem to be a USP for Airfix

 

I am intrigued by the statement on the site that says ‘Airfix presents our first selection of product announcements for this year’

 

I also notice that with the exception of the Anson, the new tools are all due in the summer. Could we see more releases later? 
After all they have now down scaled for the first time, released a 1/24 kit after 3 and not 5 years , plus are breaking into the 1/43 car scene.  So why not have a second set of releases for the 1st time. Makes sense from a business pov
 

I was certainly expecting a few more vintage kits such as the TSR2 and Bloodhound based on the Work bench issue for Friday 7th Jan

 

Time will tell, maybe the catalogue will give us some clues

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10 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

I can see why 1/72 fans would be slightly disappointed, as the F.8 Meteor has been well served by MPM / Special Hobby so there’s nothing really new for them.

 

Being a 1/72 scale modeller I can quite agree with that. On the other hand, I like the line-up for this year in spite of the fact that there is only one new kit since many new-tool 1/72 kits which were sold out for quite some years such as the Spitfire Mk 22 are going to be re-released.

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Looks like a decent hand to me. While there is nothing I desperately want or need, some of the new tools and re-issues pique an interest and may well take some of my money. I shall probably have to get the 1/24 Spitfire to complete my Superkit collection. The 1/48 Anson looks interesting and may well tempt me. I was looking forward to the E-Type but 1/43 seems a bit odd - the other two cars were unexpected (by me). I don't usually do modern warships, but the two 1/600 Vintage Classics will join my fleet. A decent spread in my opinion. Only the selfish one-eyed builders will be upset that their pet project isn't included/is in the wrong scale/has the wrong decals.

And more to come...

Happy modelling.

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9 minutes ago, trickydicky210 said:

I also notice that with the exception of the Anson, the new tools are all due in the summer. Could we see more releases later? 
After all they have now down scaled for the first time, released a 1/24 kit after 3 and not 5 years , plus are breaking into the 1/43 car scene.  So why not have a second set of releases for the 1st time. Makes sense from a business pov

Oh that does make sense actually! Really they should make this more clear if it is the case

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I think this year reflects the longish lead times in this industry. I think we have to consider that when these releases were decided upon we at the start of or during the first COVID lockdown. Hornby offices would have closed like many others, staff furloughed, work slowed or stopped altogether. Their suppliers and partners similarly affected, plans would have been changed or scaled back, reusing previously gathered reference data during lockdown may be a reason for some of the choices. Other companies may have been better placed to ride out the storm. The hobby market didn't know it would do be a beneficiary of the pandemic but it's going to take time to see the results, if any considering the other economical pressures, to reach the shelves. 

 

 

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13 hours ago, 593jones said:

I've just noticed the wording on the Airfix announcement page viz. Airfix presents our first selection of product announcements for this year.  Am I reading too much into this or might there be further selections of products announcements, maybe at a toy fair?  Am I being unduly optimistic

 

Maybe they'll announce something at Telford?

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It looks good for me.  I have a couple or three old tool Buccs in the stash but despite the rather eye -watering price for the new tool Bucc, I'll probably pick up one (or two, or….).  The Anson & the 1/24 Spitfire IX don't CURRENTLY excite me but as & when I swing back to building WW2 subjects, I'm sure they will!

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It's a miss for me, but happy for those who see something to buy. I am a bit surprised by the absence of a Black Buck Vulcan but also the E.E. Lightning F.2A being released again with decals for the only 2 squadrons that flew it, the F.6 would has been a better choice imho as there is more variations.

 

Regards

Robert

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A miss from me - but don't let that detract from anyone's positive waves.

New 1/72 Meteor F8 and vintage DH Beaver.   Probably the only items for which I'll flex my card.

A 1/48 Buccaneer,   well I've tamed the old one - twice.

As for the rest - I'll pass thanks.

 

Same time last year - VERY excited about a 1/48 Chipmunk, and got VERY wet cycling to model shop to collect my pre-order.

Beaufort - built that during the Bristol GB.

Tempest with stubby cannons - I'm still waiting for that one.

Vintages that I bought,  Jetstream and Trident.

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