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Airfix and Eurofighter


vppelt68

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Airfix is currently having several posts about RAF Eurofighter Typhoons at their fb page. Makes me wonder if there'd be anything new on the horizon? I believe their 1:72 kit is 30+ years old and all they have on the subject  (apart from the QUICKBUILD kit, of course). V-P

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7 hours ago, PhantomBigStu said:

Airfix coming out with a new tool would make 2023 for me, currently building the revell and hate just how poorly fitting both the old and current tools are 

Sad to read that Stu - having 3 copies in my stash.

 

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3 hours ago, PhantomBigStu said:

Was being a bit hyperbolic, but the wing fuselage join is an absolute mare to sort out 

 

A lot has to be done to the RoG kit that really should have come as standard, such as the empty yawning space beyond the intakes, etc.

And the kit has deteriorated a lot in terms of quality and fit since it first came out. I noticed newer kits are much more prone to warping, deformed parts, and flash, than when originally released.

But some issues have always been there since the beginning, like that fuselage join that has irritated me over all twelve Typhoon builds.

 

Not insurmountable problems, but a new Airfix kit would be nice.

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I read somewhere, most likely on BM, that Airfix's current business model was based upon not releasing kits of aircraft that were currently in service to avoid licensing costs etc. 

 

I can think of only one release they've done in last 10 years which was a modern in service aircraft, the Merlin. Can't think of any others? (In fact the Merlin maybe older than 10 years now)

 

I'd be very surprised if they did the Typhoon, after the Buccaneer it looks like the Jag will be the next fast jet IMHO.

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What one of the Airfix researchers said in a lecture some years ago was that getting access to modern types for research was the problem - you can't set up LIDAR at an active RAF base, and getting Eurofighter or Lockheed Martin to give them access to full scale CADwork is unlikely (though Westland did let them have access to CAD for the Merlin).

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5 hours ago, Muzz said:

I read somewhere, most likely on BM, that Airfix's current business model was based upon not releasing kits of aircraft that were currently in service to avoid licensing costs etc. 

 

I can think of only one release they've done in last 10 years which was a modern in service aircraft, the Merlin. Can't think of any others? (In fact the Merlin maybe older than 10 years now)

 

I'd be very surprised if they did the Typhoon, after the Buccaneer it looks like the Jag will be the next fast jet IMHO.

If that was the case, all those Tornado, Jaguar, Buccaneer, Hawk etc., kits would also be subject to the same 'licenced by' caveats, but I don't recall seeing any?

Regardless, there's clearly a gap in the market for a decent EF Typhoon, and I'd also welcome a 1/48 Jaguar. If done to the same standard as their Hunter I'd be more than happy

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That would also apply to the P-51D Mustang they recently did in 1/48. That had "licenced by Boeing" all over the box, so I don't think that is their business model at all. Even the Victor, Valiant and Vulcan rights will be owned by BAe (I believe) as the successor to Avro, Vickers, and Handley Page.

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1 hour ago, Richard Humm said:

What one of the Airfix researchers said in a lecture some years ago was that getting access to modern types for research was the problem - you can't set up LIDAR at an active RAF base, and getting Eurofighter or Lockheed Martin to give them access to full scale CADwork is unlikely (though Westland did let them have access to CAD for the Merlin).

That's what it was, thanks Richard. Getting the licensing bit confused with something else.👍

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Airfix are missing Phantom, Tornado, Typhoon and F35 in 1/48th.
 

Given that the Tornado is retired they surely can’t  say that they can’t get one to play with.
 

And there are Typhoons in museums, though I’m not sure how different they are to current models.

 

Whilst Lidaring the F35 might be problematic, what did they do before such toys? Other companies seem to manage.

 

And then there’s the 1/24th TSR2……

 

Graham

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16 minutes ago, GrahamS said:

Whilst Lidaring the F35 might be problematic, what did they do before such toys?

I believe that Airfix have already LIDARed the F-35:

 

airfix---n-03830-2-bullfinches-p-image-3

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11 hours ago, GrahamS said:

Airfix are missing Phantom, Tornado, Typhoon and F35 in 1/48th.
 

Given that the Tornado is retired they surely can’t  say that they can’t get one to play with.

 

They're not missing a Tornado - they've got one. It's just not very good 🙂

 

Jon

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12 hours ago, GrahamS said:

And there are Typhoons in museums, though I’m not sure how different they are to current models.

 

Graham

From recollection the Museum airframes are the BAES Development Aircraft (DA2 & DA4), so not Production standard.

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On 4/13/2022 at 4:16 PM, GrahamS said:

Airfix are missing Phantom, Tornado, Typhoon and F35 in 1/48th.
 

Given that the Tornado is retired they surely can’t  say that they can’t get one to play with.
 

And there are Typhoons in museums, though I’m not sure how different they are to current models.

 

Whilst Lidaring the F35 might be problematic, what did they do before such toys? Other companies seem to manage.

 

And then there’s the 1/24th TSR2……

 

Graham

A 1/48 scale New Tooled F-35B is already announced for this summer by Italeri.

My best bet for the next Airfix 1/48 kit project is for a Bae/Sepecat Jaguar family (Gr.1/Gr.3/T-2/A/E).

🙂

SharkOwl

 

 

 

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