Airfix 2023

[Robert]

Hope there is something to get excited about.

 

Regards

Robert

[IT_Man]

Any clues in the sprue background or is it just generic/used before?

[Stephen]

Cue this thread becoming endless and duplicated wish-listing.... 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by Stephen

[352nd Fighter Group]

Hopefully a 1/72 Hawker Sea fury or Spit TR.9 

[Des]

There will be another Spitfire because the world needs more Spitfires.

 

Whatever Spitfire or anything else announced will be in the wrong scale.

 

Any artists impressions or speculative CAD mock-ups released will exhibit fatal flaws.

 

Someone will be upset because their niche interest of which they would definitely have bought two to ensure certain financial success has not been catered for so they will be forced to turn their back on Airfix for another year.

 

Can any new Aircraft/AFV/Ship etc. released be converted easily into an RAF Phantom?

 

Great opportunities will yet again be missed.

[Peter Roberts]

10 minutes ago, Des said:

There will be another Spitfire because the world needs more Spitfires.

 

Amen! The world can NEVER have enough model Spitfires……. 😍

[Botan]

1 hour ago, Peter Roberts said:

 

Amen! The world can NEVER have enough model Spitfires……. 😍

 

So this but in 1/350 scale?

[Denford]

Having just had 'the Spitfire to end all Spitfires' I suspect we will have a break.  Indeed their next Spitfires will surely be 'developments' of said lX, with Vc and Xlll being the favourites.  Almost the first time ever, one actually knows what is coming from Airfix!  I'll put the foregoing some 2 years off and it will be interesting how this 'influences' the release of other 'large kits': either in 1/24 or subjects that were themselves large.

 

Meanwhile I wonder if Eduard will extend their Spitfire range.  Like everyone else, for reasons I can't fathom, they've stayed clear of Griffon variants.  Yet their approach to modelling of variants is well suited to this and I'm sure by this time next year I'll multiple sprues with unwanted parts for the for 109 variants they are set to produce.  Maybe Griffon Spitfires will follow or perhaps more / long nosed Fw 190s.  

[NAVY870]

Even the announcement of the announcement has got people grumbling.

What a miserable bunch we've become.

[Paul Thompson]

33 minutes ago, NAVY870 said:

Even the announcement of the announcement has got people grumbling.

What a miserable bunch we've become.

But to be fair, some of us have been that way all our lives.

 

Paul.

[cherisy]

And dont forget  the inevitable  website  crash for 2 days.

[Black Knight]

I no longer visit the Airfix website on the day, I just follow what youse lot report via here

[klr]

2 hours ago, Denford said:

Having just had 'the Spitfire to end all Spitfires' I suspect we will have a break.  Indeed their next Spitfires will surely be 'developments' of said lX, with Vc and Xlll being the favourites.  Almost the first time ever, one actually knows what is coming from Airfix!  I'll put the foregoing some 2 years off and it will be interesting how this 'influences' the release of other 'large kits': either in 1/24 or subjects that were themselves large.

 

Meanwhile I wonder if Eduard will extend their Spitfire range.  Like everyone else, for reasons I can't fathom, they've stayed clear of Griffon variants.  Yet their approach to modelling of variants is well suited to this and I'm sure by this time next year I'll multiple sprues with unwanted parts for the for 109 variants they are set to produce.  Maybe Griffon Spitfires will follow or perhaps more / long nosed Fw 190s.  

IMHO, it would make good business sense for Airfix to scale down its 1/48 Spitfire FR.XIV and Seafire F.XVII to 1/72 before the likes of Eduard beat them to it. However, Eduard would most likely tool the Griffon Spitfire family (or just about anything else) in 1/48 first, giving Airfix advance some advance warning. At least Airfix now seems prepared to scale down, as it has done with the Meteor.

 

A new 1/72 Vb kit is also possible, seeing as the existing tooling is from 1974 (first kit I ever built!). But Airfix might have concluded that to most of its customer base, a Vb looks the same as a 2-cannon Vc. A re-release of the Vc kit from 2020 is more likely in 2023, especially as it included unused parts for a "European" version and clipped wings. The much-simplified starter kit doesn't really count IMHO. Maybe the old Vb kit will be re-released yet again in the Vintage Classics range at some point.

 

Of course, some the R&D that went into the 1/24 IXc might in time feed its way down into 1/48, and maybe even 1/72 to replace the 2009 kit. I suspect Airfix does not see Eduard as a major competitor in certain segments of its key markets, as in those people who don't even know (or trust) any kit that doesn't say Airfix on the box. So it is probably content to stay with the mediocre 1/72 IXc for the foreseeable future. Me, I'm happy to buy as many of the 1/72 Eduard 2-stage Merlin family as I can get. I currently have a 1x VIII, 2x IXc with a 3rd on order, and hopefully an IXe and at least 2x XVI to follow at some point.

Edited January 1, 2023 by klr

[Space Ranger]

I’m not betting on a 1/72 Javelin. The odds of winning the lottery are better!

[Greg B]

Combined with the thread running in chat because we don't need multiple locations with the same info.

 

As soon as its announced, this thread will close and new threads will now doubt, swiftly be opened in the RM for the subjects. As a reminder:

 

• Wishlisting - no thanks. Facts; not fingers crossed for your pet subject.
• Threads about the subjects to be released anywhere other than the RM section, will be locked off. Again, we don't need multiple threads.
• Be magnanimous, so what if its not the kit you were hoping for and they really should have released it instead. Their company, their decision at their risk  Teddy needs to stay in that pram.
• Good luck in getting that kit you are hoping for.

[Adam Poultney]

Can we have a locked master thread consisting of just links to the RM threads for the announced kits? Easier to avoid duplicate ones in the chaos that will ensue after the announcements. 

[Adam Poultney]

1 hour ago, Space Ranger said:

I’m not betting on a 1/72 Javelin. The odds of winning the lottery are better!

You think? 

I'd have thought it would be a decent seller and would be a logical inclusion in the range of Cold War jets.

[spfparker]

1/24 Hawk and a Poseidon please.   Set of figures for the Ambulance.

[VMA131Marine]

1 hour ago, spfparker said:

1/24 Hawk and a Poseidon please.   Set of figures for the Ambulance.

A 1/24 Poseidon would be huge. 5 feet long, 5 feet wide and over 1 1/2 feet high 😉

[Greg B]

One last time:

 

Wishlisting - no thanks. Facts; not fingers crossed for your pet subject.

[Neil Lambess]

10 hours ago, Des said:

There will be another Spitfire because the world needs more Spitfires.

 

Whatever Spitfire or anything else announced will be in the wrong scale.

 

Any artists impressions or speculative CAD mock-ups released will exhibit fatal flaws.

 

Someone will be upset because their niche interest of which they would definitely have bought two to ensure certain financial success has not been catered for so they will be forced to turn their back on Airfix for another year.

 

Can any new Aircraft/AFV/Ship etc. released be converted easily into an RAF Phantom?

 

Great opportunities will yet again be missed.

No the 350th ark royal IV will only come with RN Phantoms sorry 😀

[Homebee]

Save the date

Source: https://www.facebook.com/officialairfix/photos/a.80699376270/10160331707576271

 

Quote

 

 SAVE THE DATE!
Join us for the reveal of the 2023 range:
Date: Tuesday 10th January
Time: 16:00 (GMT)
What would you like to see this year?
More to follow 

 

 

V.P.

Edited January 2, 2023 by Homebee

[Greg B]

Gents Cleaned up and the final reminder that this thread is firmly back in the Rumourmonger area. 

 

This Thread is for the facts and considered opinion/valid information surrounding the imminent announcement for the 2023 new releases and re-issues.

 

We have had the wish listing for months. The thread is back in RM. We also don't need discussion surrounding:

 

Sales figures of already released kits

Discussion regarding benefits of manufacturing location

Nor details of the most popular kit in NZ.

 

Its the third time this has been tided up since moving it 10 hours ago. Diluting it with off topic items makes if difficult for those either trawling through, or jumping in for a quick appraisal.

 

No more off topic discussion please, otherwise it will come to an abrupt halt.

[Denford]

First, thanks to the Moderator(s) for the hard work in keeping the site running and much, much more.  I had no idea there was another similar thread.  I’ll try and stick to your guidelines!

For Airfix I think it will be a bumper year of new subjects or no such announcement would have been made.

-  Based on previous release 'cycles' we are surely due another large 1/72 subject to alternate with 1/24.  First in line a new Halifax, though a B-24 is possible.

-  Totally new, never previously tooled (I forget their exact words) can only be pure guesswork.  A Sea Venom in the colours of FAA, RAN and French Navy would fit the Airfix ‘modus operandi’.

-  And why no Havoc\Boston?  So many variants, users, colour schemes etc.  In my opinion ‘pure Airfix’.

- No Hampden till the Cosford restoration is complete, which I’m told has been delayed by stop\starts.

- I’m told (unsubstantiated, though informed) that greatest sales are in North America where 1/48 reigns supreme. Surely a Harvard (so many users etc) and in that scale would allow removable side panels like the real thing.  In my opinion something only Airfix would do and would put it way ahead of all others.

- Logic here, but what about the Fighter Mosquito?  The Bomber is no longer listed on Big H, and in my opinion Airfix wouldn’t want to make the gap between the two too great.

- Wishlisting? I doubt I’d buy any except the Sea Venom and then only if 1/72 which I don’t think it would be.

 

[fightersweep]

I'm eager to see what the classic range will bring for us this year. I was glad to see the Jaguar 420, Beagle Basset and DHC Beaver last year, and there's plenty more of their old kits I would like to see come back again. The nice new decals are a big bonus of the classic range, as was the newly tooled transparencies for the Beagle, so fingers crossed for a few more sorely missed kits for 2023.