Arma Hobby P51B/C Value For Money?

[fishplanebeer]

I've yet to take the plunge with the new Arma P51's but given their price tag I'm wondering if they represent value for money or if the alternatives are worth considering for a modeller on a budget?

 

I gather from the reviews I've read that they are probably the bee's knee's but I'm struggling to justify spending £20 on a 72nd scale fighter when the latest Airfix Tempest V is around £12 and the forthcoming Eduard Spirfire F.IX is a shade under a tenner on back order with Hannants, both excellent kits.

 

Regards

Colin.

[lasermonkey]

I had been looking forward to the Arma P-51s, but at the price they're going for, I'm going to leave them on the shelves. I simply cannot justify twenty quid for a single-engined WW2 fighter. Even with the usual discounts, you're unlikely to get it to your door for less than that. I'm sure someone will come along soon and point out that everything is more expensive these days, but there are still a few manufacturers that offer a lot more model for less money.

 

Anyway, I've unsubscribed from the Arma newsletters as there simply isn't any point now. It's a shame, as I thought their Junior boxings used to represent good value.

[RayB24]

Worth every penny, plus you can combine with overtrees

[Space Ranger]

Absolutely worth every penny/pound/Euro/dollar.

[Ed Russell]

I think they are excellent value for money. That is the answer to the OP's actual question.

However, more generally, if you really don't have the money to spare, then you shouldn't  buy one.

I think all questions about "value for money" of kits are actually pretty unhelpful as everyone has their own subjective opinion.

[FinnAndersen]

You have answered your own question, so why ask us? 

 

It's perfectly acceptable to work on a tight budget and skip those kits that will mean going to bed hungry.

 

But!....  You could save up. Combine the money for your next two kits and buy an expensive one, lavish it with love and care, extract every ounce of joy from it and give it the best place on the shelf.

 

You need to find out if it's quantity or quality that satisfies you. Neither is wrong, you just have to make a choice.

 

/Finn

[Graham Boak]

No-one else can judge what is value for money for you, assuming this has any great validity in hobby terms..  They can say that this is the best P-51B kit around, and if you want the best of anything, it is rare to find it at a bargain price.  Given the overall cost of any hobby these days, is a few extra pounds significant given the hours of enjoyment?  For some years I've been paying that sort of money for WW2 fighters that were of much poorer quality than Arma Hobby kits, because they the only way to get the subjects I wanted.  It's nicer to have a choice in these matters.

 

If you want to make a Tempest, get the Airfix one.  The Arma Hobby kit will be around for a little while.  You can always get it when you decide that the subject is really one you want, and you don't want to sit looking at a kit knowing you could have had something better. 

[lasermonkey]

Value for money is always going to be subjective. It would appear for a lot of people that "best kit in the scale" is the overriding factor, and that's fair enough. For some of us though, it's a small kit with a relatively small part count and therefore may not fare well in the cost vs engagement equation, after all, it's only going to keep you entertained for so long. So for me, it's not worth the money and that statement is true for me, as is anyone's who disagrees for them. It's perfectly OK to have differing opinions here.

 

 

[JackG]

Looking at Hannants store, the initial search on the Arma Mustang gives two results, with lower price one being £19.99, kit no. AH70039.  But if you go to the actual products page, it is listed at £16.66.

 

Yes, I know it still costs more than the other brands and quoted prices, but it is a more accurate comparison price wise ...

 

 

regards,

Jack

 

 

 

 

[fishplanebeer]

I guess I just have one more question if I may. How come Airfix and Eduard can produce modern and highly detailed kits for half the price of an Arma kit? The answer won't change my buying decision, particularly when I could get the new Airfix Mosquito or both the Airfix Tempest and Edurad Spitfire F.IX for the same outlay but I'd be curious to know people's thoughts.

 

Regards

Colin.

[Graham Boak]

Bigger companies spreading their overheads over wider range of products?  Basically economised of scale, including production runs.  The associated question is why aren't Airfix quite the same quality as these other two producers?

[Giorgio N]

Well, don't know about Hannants pricing but in my corner of the world the difference between the kits of these manufacturers is not twice the price. The Arma Mustang is indeed more expensive than the eduard Spitfire and the Airfix Series 2 kits but not by such a margin, I would suggest that Hannants maybe is not the right shop where to buy Arma kits from...

 

Regarding value for money, it all depends on what you're looking for: if you want an accurate P-51B, Arma can offer this in a kit of pretty good quality, other manufacturers don't.

If you "just" want a P-51B kit then there are other cheaper options, that however are not accurate in one aspect or the other. Among them is the Academy kit, that in terms of mould quality is very good and can be found for a tenner and sometimes even less. If accuracy is not that important then I'd probably suggest this as the best "value for money" in terms of comparison of cost versus detail and quality of the plastic parts. With the caveat that Academy decals are not always of good quality...

[lasermonkey]

9 minutes ago, fishplanebeer said:

I guess I just have one more question if I may. How come Airfix and Eduard can produce modern and highly detailed kits for half the price of an Arma kit? The answer won't change my buying decision, particularly when I could get the new Airfix Mosquito or both the Airfix Tempest and Edurad Spitfire F.IX for the same outlay but I'd be curious to know people's thoughts.

 

Regards

Colin.

That's kinda how I see it. I don't know the reason why Arma feels they have/want to charge what they do for their Mustang and to be honest, I don't really care. But when you look at, say, Eduard's 1/72 MiG-21 series, what you get for the money is exceptional and for me, it's the benchmark of value in the scale. I just wish they'd pull their finger out and get on with the 1/72 revolution!

 

Anyway, I have a number of P-51Bs that are good enough for me. They're not perfect, but I will have paid less than a tenner for them and they'll keep me out of trouble long enough to justify their price tag and look fine from 3 feet away. I guess everyone wants something different from the hobby and there aren't really any right or wrong answers.

[Tbolt]

15 hours ago, fishplanebeer said:

I've yet to take the plunge with the new Arma P51's but given their price tag I'm wondering if they represent value for money or if the alternatives are worth considering for a modeller on a budget?

 

I gather from the reviews I've read that they are probably the bee's knee's but I'm struggling to justify spending £20 on a 72nd scale fighter when the latest Airfix Tempest V is around £12 and the forthcoming Eduard Spirfire F.IX is a shade under a tenner on back order with Hannants, both excellent kits.

 

Regards

Colin.

 

But you are comparing standard kits to an expert set. If you don't want the extras then wait for the standard P-51B boxing, which going by the price of their other kits you will probably be able to get for around £16 and if they do a Junior set then probably about £13. Now compare the quality of the kit to the £11 Airfix Tempest.

[Phoenix44]

3 hours ago, fishplanebeer said:

I guess I just have one more question if I may. How come Airfix and Eduard can produce modern and highly detailed kits for half the price of an Arma kit? The answer won't change my buying decision, particularly when I could get the new Airfix Mosquito or both the Airfix Tempest and Edurad Spitfire F.IX for the same outlay but I'd be curious to know people's thoughts.

 

Regards

Colin.

The Arma kit comes with PE, masks and seven decal options. The Typhoon has no PE, no masks and 2 decal options. PE £3, masks £3, 5 decal choices £4 and that's the £10 difference.

[Dave Swindell]

22 minutes ago, Tbolt said:

 

But you are comparing standard kits to an expert set. If you don't want the extras then wait for the standard P-51B boxing, which going by the price of their other kits you will probably be able to get for around £16 and if they do a Junior set then probably about £13. Now compare the quality of the kit to the £11 Airfix Tempest.

 

10 minutes ago, Phoenix44 said:

The Arma kit comes with PE, masks and seven decal options. The Typhoon has no PE, no masks and 2 decal options. PE £3, masks £3, 5 decal choices £4 and that's the £10 difference.

 

The comparison is with the standard Arma Mustang kit, no etch, no masks, 2 decal schemes, so directly comparable.

The expert set Mustang is £26.60 at Hannants. vs £19.99 for the standard set

[Tbolt]

31 minutes ago, Dave Swindell said:

 

 

The comparison is with the standard Arma Mustang kit, no etch, no masks, 2 decal schemes, so directly comparable.

The expert set Mustang is £26.60 at Hannants. vs £19.99 for the standard set

 

I didn't realise that. The prices I was quoting are discounted from MJW and I thought that's what fishplanebeer was referring to not the retail price. But still the quality difference between Arma and Airfix is quite large.

 

I see Arma have done away with the Junior sets and just call them standard now, but I guess inflation over the last couple of years have pushed up the prices from their older kits.

 

LIke others have mentioned it hard to beat Eduard prices, I'm not sure how they keep their prices so low ( doing away with good quality decals is probably one thing!).

[Ed Russell]

6 hours ago, fishplanebeer said:

How come Airfix and Eduard can produce modern and highly detailed kits for half the price of an Arma kit?

Economies of scale. It's not "half the price" in many markets. I think these discussions are not very helpful in general. It's looking like what @Mike calls "whining and stamping of feet" as it goes on and on and on. I have no problem with people disagreeing about things but this is so subjective nobody is going to convince anybody else with their 'argument" so it's pointless.

[Graham Boak]

There is one other point that everyone is avoiding,  The Eduard Spitfires were imported before "that which we are not supposed to mention".  Since then all imports have gone up in price.  Let's see how the next new Eduard 1/72 fighters compare.  After all, the IBG Fw.190Ds are not exactly cheap (though apparently superb).

[lasermonkey]

58 minutes ago, Ed Russell said:

Economies of scale. It's not "half the price" in many markets. I think these discussions are not very helpful in general. It's looking like what @Mike calls "whining and stamping of feet" as it goes on and on and on. I have no problem with people disagreeing about things but this is so subjective nobody is going to convince anybody else with their 'argument" so it's pointless.

Leaving two comments on a subject that irks you when you could have so easily walked on by looks suspiciously like the behaviour you are accusing others of. You did the same on my thread too. 
 

The price of kits is often a deciding factor as to whether people can partake in the hobby. It might be boring for you, but when you see yourself being edged out (in more than one way), it’s an awful lot more depressing, I can assure you.

[Bedders]

Like Colin I'm saving my pennies for now. Not cos I don't like the kit, but because the markings in the boxing thus far didn't really float my boat. I could get some aftermarket decals but if the Arma Hurricanes are anything to go by, there will be lots of boxings in due course - hopefully with new or rare markings and one day I'll see the one I just HAVE to have...

 

Justin

[fishplanebeer]

I get that this a subjective subject, although still worth airing in my humble opinion, and that for some the fact that a certain kit is considered to be the bee's knee's etc.. then makes their buying decision price inelastic, or in other words that price has no significant bearing. It's just that for some, like myself I/we have to weigh up what it is we are getting for our money so our price elasticity can be markedly different, or price (or more accurately relative price) is a significant part of our final buying decision. And as can be ascertained form the responses so far our hobby is clearly made up of people from both camps.

 

Hopefully Arma will issue the P51 in a 'Junior' (less expensive) set at some point, but what ever that means as to be frank if you look at the pricing of their Hurricane range of kits on the Hannants web site the price points seem somewhat random and confusing - with 13 different kits, many very similar indeed, and yet 8 different prices! 

 

 

Regards

Colin.

 

Edited March 23, 2022 by fishplanebeer

[CarLos]

The Arma kit good value for money? Absolutely NOT.

 

I've spent 28 euro with mine, and the kit is so good that even I could build it in a weekend. Contrasting with, for example, the Academy one - 8 euro and at least a month of happy modelling time.

So - 14 euro a day for Arma against 27 cents for Academy. Any doubt about the winner?

[fishplanebeer]

I must admit I'd not factored in the aspect highlighted by Carlos but this is also another important consideration. Nobody likes a kit that is so badly molded that it ends up in the bin but equally if a kit is a 'shake and bake' due to its absolute precision and perfection, then it detracts from the joy, and sometimes frustration, of modelling for those familiar with the hobby. The apparent irony or contradiction here (purely my subjective view) is that many who are absolute sticklers for ultimate accuracy in a kit, and so may be happy to pay Arma premium prices for the ultimate, are often those who have the requisite skills to produce stunning models from pretty much any kit they make.

 

The people who could possibly benefit most from a kit that is accurate and goes together with minimal fuss are those who are blessed with less skill or experience but for whom Arma prices are too rich. Maybe the reason perhaps why Airfix released their 'simplified' Spitfire Vc which a good friend of mine is building despite losing his sight many years ago.

 

Just a thought.

 

Regards

Colin.

 

Ps. The exquisite Special Hobby Bf109E-1/3 is a relative bargain at £13.30 (Hannants current price) so excellence can be affordable 

 

Edited March 23, 2022 by fishplanebeer

[Space Ranger]

3 hours ago, CarLos said:

The Arma kit good value for money? Absolutely NOT.

 

I've spent 28 euro with mine, and the kit is so good that even I could build it in a weekend. Contrasting with, for example, the Academy one - 8 euro and at least a month of happy modelling time.

So - 14 euro a day for Arma against 27 cents for Academy. Any doubt about the winner?

I don't consider spending a month to assemble a mediocre kit "happy modelling time," when I can assemble an excellent, superbly detailed kit in two days and have a much better model when it's completed, even if that superbly detailed kit costs 3 times as much. My time is worth something, too.