Airfix 2023

[cati]

There was a gannet at white Waltham ….. i will get my coat 

[Filler]

Is the RAF boxing of the Buccaneer not likely the flagship announcement, or is it assumed/a given that there will be a notable brand new tooling of some subject or other?

[Christer A]

Yesterday Airfix had a nice video about JAS39 Gripen, claiming that it's one (of many) needed new tools...

[Richard Humm]

10 hours ago, Filler said:

Is the RAF boxing of the Buccaneer not likely the flagship announcement, or is it assumed/a given that there will be a notable brand new tooling of some subject or other?

As Airfix have been producing around six new tools a year for the past few years, and there is one of their designers who has appeared in videos but not been credited with any designs yet, I think it's safe to assume that there will be new tooling this year.

[jenko]

And the one aircraft that we would all say yes to.

A 1/48 Sunderland. 

 

Dick

[GioCare]

Airfix has learnt from Tamiya: no sure voices/info/data about the news, Incredible. 

 

[Muzz]

19 hours ago, Filler said:

Is the RAF boxing of the Buccaneer not likely the flagship announcement, or is it assumed/a given that there will be a notable brand new tooling of some subject or other?

I'd certainly be very, very disappointed if this didn't happen in 2023!

[Rabbit Leader]

21 hours ago, Filler said:

Is the RAF boxing of the Buccaneer not likely the flagship announcement

Although the RAF boxing of the 2022 released Bucc is most welcomed, I doubt Airfix will use this mould as a flagship 2023 announcement. Such status must surely be preserved for an entirely new kit, the likes of which we have not seen before. 90% of the Bucc’s sprues have already been shown, so the only new items for them to highlight would be a dedicated RAF parts sprue and three or so decal choices. I’m convinced we are in for something entirely different and like the (lack of) Black Buck Vulcan in the follow up year, possibly no RAF Bucc until 2024. 
 

Cheers.. Dave 

[jenko]

Have to agree Dave. 

My 2 peneth for what it's  worth. 

A trainer of some sort. FAA classic.  Something left field.  ie Battle or similar.  Phantom or Jaguar in 1/48. And to finish with a ..... I would never have thought of that model.

Or perhaps it another way just look at the Classic Airframes list. 

 

Dick. 

Waiting to go bankrupt again this year.

[Botan]

Going back to speculating, is there any fairly recent Airfix kit, which could be re-released with markings from Russo-Ukrainian War? Old Soviet jets are, well, quite old. I was thinking about operation Herrick 1/48 vehicles range, but quick search did not confirmed anything from it was sent to Ukraine, still maybe some Land Rovers or quads ended up in Ukraine.

[TEXANTOMCAT]

9 minutes ago, Botan said:

Going back to speculating, is there any fairly recent Airfix kit, which could be re-released with markings from Russo-Ukrainian War? Old Soviet jets are, well, quite old. I was thinking about operation Herrick 1/48 vehicles range, but quick search did not confirmed anything from it was sent to Ukraine, still maybe some Land Rovers or quads ended up in Ukraine.

Yes they’ve been exporting lots of surplus British Army kit there- a few years ago a recently released  ex Herrick Snatch Land Rover could be had from as little as £1500 from Withams now they are at a huge premium as they’re being sought out by dealers to send to Ukraine- no overheating issues or IED threat so they’re perfect- prices I think are approaching £15/20k apiece!  Unlikely Airfixnwould re release them for that reason though! 

[IanHx]

Vintage Classics Fairey Rotodyne ?

[klr]

51 minutes ago, Paul821 said:

As usual the majority of the speculation has been about aircraft with the odd mention of cars and boats. What about 1:72 vehicles? There has been enough time size the release of th Tiger and Firefly. Can we expect further Sherman's next year? I would like to see a cold war era aircraft support set. Most of my other requirements are met by other manufacturers.

The Firefly kit was of the Vc version, which accounted for the bulk of Firefly conversions. The bad news is that the Mk. V (M4A4) had an extended chassis, because of the Chrysler multibank engine. This is noticeable in the gap between the road wheel bogies, which is greater than for all other variants. The good news is that the UK took up the vast bulk of the near 7,500 M4A4/Mk.V production run. So there would be plenty of potential British and related subjects if Airfix wanted to do a regular Mk. V. Basically, a new turret and gun would be required*. The Firefly kit already includes the hull machine gun, which was generally omitted in Fireflies, along with the hull gunner (to increase the number of 17 pdr rounds that could be carried).

 

*If memory serves, the M4A4 variant - unlike the M4 through M4A3 variants - was never upgraded during its production run to use (say) the "big hatch" hull, or the later HVSS suspension with wider tracks as standard. Likewise, it never got the T23 turret with the 76mm gun.

Edited January 4, 2023 by klr

[Paul821]

13 hours ago, IT_Man said:

IBG beat them to it

Yes that is what I meant by other manufacturers, IBG certainly seem to have the market covered in 1:72. But talking about kits that were announced and disappeared there was always the US Tractor and roller from a few years back. Now an airfield construction and repair set (either RAF or USAF) would certainly interest me. There are some white metal kits around but they are pricey. As an example Hornby sell a Ruston Bucyrus, 19-RB Face Shovel  at £17.99 a white metal one equivalent is between £50 and £76.

[TheKinksFan]

15 hours ago, Botan said:

Going back to speculating, is there any fairly recent Airfix kit, which could be re-released with markings from Russo-Ukrainian War?

I don't think that is going to happen. Since February 24th 2022 there has not been a single mention of the war by Airfix. No solidarity to Ukraininan manufacturers, absolutely nothing. 

[IanC]

15 hours ago, jenko said:

Have to agree Dave. 

My 2 peneth for what it's  worth. 

A trainer of some sort..  

 

I'm betting my kitcoin on a Harvard. 

 

It's a small bet. 

[352nd Fighter Group]

A Spitfire TR.9 is still very much needed in 1/72 

[PLC1966]

On 1/4/2023 at 10:01 AM, jenko said:

And the one aircraft that we would all say yes to.

A 1/48 Sunderland. 

 

Dick

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

 

All except me............................lol

[PLC1966]

I still suspect there is a Jag lurking in the pot somewhere, if not this year it will be done before @Fritag completes his next masterclass, which does give Airfix a decent leeway to be honest, while a new Halifax can't be far away.  B-24 and a Battle are reasonable calls would not be a great surprise.

 

Depending on tooling, release the O-1 Birdog and 1/76 Scorpion in the Classic Range.  Would fancy the Space Shuttle and Lunar Module as Classics but that ain't gonna happen (guess who currently reading up on the Space Race!!)

 

For the I never thought of that.....a new tool Canberra would be a nice surprise.

 

And for the I never thought of that double Strength edition....C-130J or A400

[Adam Poultney]

21 minutes ago, 352nd Fighter Group said:

A Spitfire TR.9 is still very much needed in 1/72 

I'd honestly be surprised if they did this

2 minutes ago, PLC1966 said:

For the I never thought of that.....a new tool Canberra would be a nice surprise.

 

This would be a logical follow up to the now completed V Bomber range perhaps

3 hours ago, LansVVS said:

I dream of Avro Manchester and Vickers Warwick.

I don't know about the Warwick, but I think a Manchester would be a good seller. Its association with the Lancaster is a strong selling point, and if Airfix can sell a Whitley well enough to justify two releases, they can almost certainly sell a Manchester, especially if it's a really well made kit like the Whitley. 

The lack of a surviving example probably isn't an insurmountable issue as they did go through with the Whitley (and did a brilliant job of it), and the Manchester shares a lot in common with the Lancaster so the relevant data from that could be used. 

Further, since the Vulcan was retooled, it seems to have become one of the most requested large kits in 1/72 so on the surface at least it appears that the demand is there. 

The possibility of Airfix tooling a Lincoln must also be considered, and I would think it would be unlikely that Airfix would do both the Lincoln and Manchester within a few years of each other; I think it is one or the other in the short term. The Lincoln at Cosford has been scanned by Airfix, I belive, when they scanned the whole hangar and its contents to assist with the RAF Museum re-organising things in future. There are options for more schemes and variants, but despite that my opinion is that the Manchester would likely sell better. 

[Lord Riot]

A 1/48 Jag would be amazing, especially if it includes the option of a two-seater. 
 

And I’m desperately hoping for the RAF version of the 1/48 Buccaneer.

 

I’m guessing 1/72 a Victor B.1 and Vulcan B.1 is too much to hope for, along with 1/72 Andover/HS.748 and Argosy.

 

1/48 Dominie and Jetstream anyone? …
 

 

[TEXANTOMCAT]

I’d love a 1/48 ‘Stream but I doubt they’d do it!

 

meantimes shout out to the previously mentioned Luftwaffe Ground Support Set and or V Bomber Ground Support Set ideas- the latter surely worth it… towbars Houchin, Land Rover, Pressure Refueller etc 

Edited January 5, 2023 by TEXANTOMCAT

[wellsprop]

27 minutes ago, PLC1966 said:

I still suspect there is a Jag lurking in the pot somewhere, if not this year it will be done before @Fritag completes his next masterclass, which does give Airfix a decent leeway to be honest. 

 

9 minutes ago, Lord Riot said:

A 1/48 Jag would be amazing, especially if it includes the option of a two-seater. 

 

Im a recent post on (I think it was) Instagram, one of the Airfix team was showing the old toolings, the tooling in question was (I think) the 1/48 Jaguar.

[noelh]

Well the email just arrived from Airfix. We'll  find out more on the 10th of January at 4pm. Looking forward to it.

 

When they'll  be announcing the 1/24th scale F4U Corsair.🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🙏🙏🙏

[trickydicky210]

On 10/4/2022 at 2:24 PM, wellsprop said:

I've just listed all the kit options for 1/48 front line, post war, British military aircraft (because I'm fun like that), I'm going to see if I can use this to apply some logic to what Airfix may produce... This, of course, all comes with the caveat that I really haven't got a clue 😅 (and yes, I have intentionally excluded all the big stuff, they simply won't be kitted in 48th by Airfix i.e. Vulcan)

 

Aircraft highlighted in bold are produced by Airfix.

Those that have another manufacturer by them, indicates the kit is already produced, the colour denotes availability; easily available (i.e. Hannants), can be found (i.e. Kingkit, Ebay), hard to find and/or extremely expensive.

 

RAF

• F-35B - Italeri
• Typhoon - Revell
• Tornado - Revell
• Harrier Gr7/9 - Hobby2000
• Jaguar - Kittyhawk and Airfix
• Buccaneer - Airfix (ok RN boxing only, but that presumably will change)
• Harrier Gr1/3 - Kinetic
• Phantom - Hasegawa (FG2 version is easy to get hold of, FG1 not so much)
• Lightning - Airfix
• Javelin - Airfix
• Hunter - Airfix
• Swift
• Sabre - Airfix
• Venom - MikroMir (soon available) and Classic Airframes
• Venom NF - Classic Airframes
• Vampire - Airfix
• Canberra - Airfix
• Meteor NF - Sword
• Meteor F8 - Airfix
• Meteor F3 - Tamiya

 

This leaves the Supermarine Swift as the only totally unserved aircraft type - however, given that the Airfix 72nd Sword didn't sell well, I don't see this being a reality.

 

Kitting the Jaguar Gr 1/3 would leave Airfix as the only contender and without competiton. Having previously been kitted by Airfix, there is recedent for it to be re-kitted (Lightning, Buccaneer).

 

In addition the Venom (single and twin seat) and possibly the Phantom could be options. The Phantom has the benefit of being both RAF and RN (with minor differences). Whereas the Venom is a truly classic British aircraft (this seems to be Airfix's main market).

 

Fleet Air Arm

 

• F-35B - Italeri (admittedly the FAA don't yet operate the F-35)
• Harrier Gr7/9 - Hobby2000
• Harrier FA2 - Kinetic
• Harrier FRS1 - Kinetic
• Buccaneer - Airfix
• Phantom - Hasegawa
• Sea Vixen - Airfix
• Scimitar - Dynavector / Scratchaeronautics (DBMK are producing a kit)
• Sea Venom - Classic Airframes (you'll need to remortgage for this and that's before you've even found one!)
• Sea Hawk - Trumpeter
• Attacker - Trumpeter

 

Once again, the Phantom and (Sea) Venom turn up. The other is the Scimitar, however, I'm not sure this would be a great seller (being an obscure FAA jet).

 

Fleet Air Arm Props (Post War)

• Gannet AS - Classic Airframes (another extremely expensive and rare Classic Airframes kit)
• Gannet AEW
• Wyvern - Trumpeter
• Firebrand - Clear prop models are supposedly making one
• Skyraider - Italeri 
• Sea Fury - Airfix
• Sea Hornet - Trumpeter
• Firefly V - Special Hobby
• Seafire 47 - Airfix
• Seafire XVII - Airfix
• Seafire XV - Special Hobby

 

Fairey Gannet!

 

I struggle to see the Firebrand being likely. The Skyraider kit is old and hard to get hold of, but again, I struggle to see Airfix covering this.

 

The other option I can imagine Airfix covering is (albeit, I reckon it'd be more likely in the original kit's scale!)

 

And finally;

 

Helicopters

• Merlin - Airfix
• Wildcat
• Lynx - Airfix
• Chinook - Italeri
• Puma
• Gazelle - AMP
• Wessex - Italeri
• Sea King - Hasegawa
• Belvedere
• Scout
• Wasp
• Whirlwind - MikroMir have planned to produce one
• Sycamore - AMP
• Dragonfly - AMP
• Sioux - Italeri

Now, I know helicopters aren't popular, but the Scout/Wasp boxing would seem the obvious. In addition, the Sea King and Puma would be other possible options.

 

In summary, I would suggest the logical post-war British aircraft for Airfix to cover would be;

• Jaguar
• Phantom FG1/FG2 (albeit I think this is unlikely as Revell (Hasegawa) offers the FG2)
• Venom (including NF and Sea Venom) (MikroMir are due to release a single seater, but I presume this will be limited run)
• Gannet
• Sea King (Hasegawa are re-releasing their SH-3H, but this is a long way off a Westland Sea King)
• Wasp/Scout
• Puma

Personally, I'd really like to see the Gannet and Wasp

Agree completely here with Mr Wellsprop’s suggestions, although I believe Airfix will also give us an F35B this year