AVRO Anson

[Phoenix44]

2 minutes ago, alt-92 said:

You know you've gone too far if Mike is swinging the bold red clue bat around  

 

Maybe people should lobby the likes of RS Models a bit - they are probably more likely to do the Anson. 
I mean, they already have an Airspeed Envoy in the catalogue.

I suspect (pure guess) that a 1/72 Anson falls into a bit of a gap for manufacturers  - the small ones fear an Airfix will do one, the Airfixes fear the market is too small. I note that Hannants has 10+ of the Airfix 1/48 version in stock currently. But who knows? I find it remarkable that Airfix think a Gannet will outsell say a Jaguar or a Spey Phantom but there you go.

[ed-209]

On 9/19/2023 at 9:58 AM, ckw said:

... don't forget the Airfix Walrus! 

 

I find it strange they did the new tool Walrus in 1/48th but the Swordfish in 1/72. Seems to me that any modeller interested in either of these would be likely to buy the other if it was in the same scale.

 

I noted the other day that aside from Airfix, my LMS had gone almost exclusively 1/48  - for example, they only had 1/48 kits from Dora Wings.  It would seem the even if companies produce 1/72 kits shops may be preferring to stock 1/48. Are there better margins on 1/48? 

 

We need a modelling homologation - all kits must be produced in 1/72 before you're allowed to produce them in any other scale. 🙂

 

Cheers

 

Colin

My lms changed hands and it went from trains and planes all scale and brands to mostly armor and dollhouse furniture 

If they don't have what I want I get them to order it in which they do and the kit price is the same as the Internet

My money stays in the town and I have the joy of the fone call 

Hello   Mr ed209 I'm glad to say your order is ready for collection 

 

 

[PatG]

In terms of the Anson, back on topic, does the Forum have any clout with the likes of Airfix to help raise the potential of a new kit in 72nd scale I wonder?

 

I presume they (Airfix) take soundings from the modeling community when considering which kits to release, or at least it would make sense for them to do so, along with how well their 48th scale Anson kit sold, relatively, as well.

 

Pat.

 

Ps. apologies for my part in leading this post awry!

[Work In Progress]

18 hours ago, PatG said:

In terms of the Anson, back on topic, does the Forum have any clout with the likes of Airfix to help raise the potential of a new kit in 72nd scale I wonder?

 

Not really: they talk to a lot of customers at the likes of the IPMS Nationals, and in the modern era it is simple for people to make direct contact with the company via the website and their own social media channels, so there's not a lot of need for an intermediary layer. I'm sure someone there casts the occasional eye at the apparently interminable wish-list threads of which a "2024" example is here 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2023 by Work In Progress

[Phoenix44]

On 20/09/2023 at 17:11, ed-209 said:

My lms changed hands and it went from trains and planes all scale and brands to mostly armor and dollhouse furniture 

If they don't have what I want I get them to order it in which they do and the kit price is the same as the Internet

My money stays in the town and I have the joy of the fone call 

Hello   Mr ed209 I'm glad to say your order is ready for collection 

 

 

The money does not stay. Most goes to the manufacturer, a bit goes to the government, a bit to the utilities. And the chap who owns the shop spends his profits on a holiday in Greece! Whereas the Internet shop owner would have spent his profit having a weekend away in your town.

[VMA131Marine]

On 9/19/2023 at 4:58 AM, ckw said:

I find it strange they did the new tool Walrus in 1/48th but the Swordfish in 1/72. Seems to me that any modeller interested in either of these would be likely to buy the other if it was in the same scale.

While it doesn’t make money for Airfix, the Tamiya 1:48 Swordfish is still available and an excellent kit. There really wasn’t a good Swordfish in 1/72 until Airfix did it; all the existing kits (Airfix, Matchbox, and Frog) dated back to the 1970s at the latest and the original Airfix kit was pre-1960 if I remember correctly.

[tempestfan]

10 hours ago, VMA131Marine said:

While it doesn’t make money for Airfix, the Tamiya 1:48 Swordfish is still available and an excellent kit. There really wasn’t a good Swordfish in 1/72 until Airfix did it; all the existing kits (Airfix, Matchbox, and Frog) dated back to the 1970s at the latest and the original Airfix kit was pre-1960 if I remember correctly.

You do - very late 1958, to be precise. The Anson however is much more modern - 1961 apparently. @Richard Humm - correct me if I'm wrong.

[viscount806x]

1 hour ago, tempestfan said:

You do - very late 1958, to be precise. The Anson however is much more modern - 1961 apparently. @Richard Humm - correct me if I'm wrong.

According to Jeremy Brook’s book on Airfix, it was released in 1962. Soon after, still in the ‘60s, the kit moulds got modified and  ‘superdetailed’ whatever that means.

 

We could do with a new one although having built it twice over the decades, it does scrub up quite well. Perhaps cross kitting it with the SH one might be an opportunity for a project.

[tempestfan]

27 minutes ago, viscount806x said:

According to Jeremy Brook’s book on Airfix, it was released in 1962. Soon after, still in the ‘60s, the kit moulds got modified and  ‘superdetailed’ whatever that means.

 

We could do with a new one although having built it twice over the decades, it does scrub up quite well. Perhaps cross kitting it with the SH one might be an opportunity for a project.

The Hunter - which was numerically preceding as #288 - came out in 1960. If the Anson was released in 1962, this would mean 1961 had no Series 2 aircraft, but of course that may well have been the case. The Lightning (290) was released in the spring of 1963, according to Richard, so in any event, either 1961 or 62 would have been "Series 2-less".

I'd have to find one of my T2s and a later one to compare, but I don't think it got a treatment like the Swordfish or Tiger Moth (or JE-J, for that matter). Possibly the fabric sections were "improved". 

[viscount806x]

33 minutes ago, tempestfan said:

The Hunter - which was numerically preceding as #288 - came out in 1960. If the Anson was released in 1962, this would mean 1961 had no Series 2 aircraft, but of course that may well have been the case. The Lightning (290) was released in the spring of 1963, according to Richard, so in any event, either 1961 or 62 would have been "Series 2-less".

I'd have to find one of my T2s and a later one to compare, but I don't think it got a treatment like the Swordfish or Tiger Moth (or JE-J, for that matter). Possibly the fabric sections were "improved". 

Going back to my reference, 1962 saw the Halifax, Caravelle and Comet 4B and that is it for aircraft but lots of other non aviation stuff, cars, ships etc. and other kits.

[JohnT]

On 19/09/2023 at 09:58, ckw said:

We need a modelling homologation - all kits must be produced in 1/72 before you're allowed to produce them in any other scale. 🙂

 

Cheers

 

Colin

 

Colin - we had that - it was called the 60's 

 

1/72 - lots

1/48 - oh a few Monogram kits

1/32 -  What are Revell doing now

whats 1/24?

[VMA131Marine]

23 hours ago, Work In Progress said:

 

Not really: they talk to a lot of customers at the likes of the IPMS Nationals, and in the modern era it is simple for people to make direct contact with the company via the website and their own social media channels, so there's not a lot of need for an intermediary layer. I'm sure someone there casts the occasional eye at the apparently interminable wish-list threads of which a "2024" example is here 

 

 

Point of order: that’s a predictions thread (my thread actually) not a wishlist thread. There is a difference and I find it interesting that almost nobody gets more than one or two predictions correct in a given year. If anything, that shows how much subject matter scope there still is for new kit toolings.

[alt-92]

4 minutes ago, VMA131Marine said:

Point of order: that’s a predictions thread (my thread actually) not a wishlist thread

You make it read like there's a difference on this website - you sure?  

[VMA131Marine]

3 minutes ago, alt-92 said:

You make it read like there's a difference on this website - you sure?  

Not entirely, no! 🤣

[alt-92]

That said: if we're doing predictions, keep the potential candidates to those subjects where

1) there's sufficient scan data available

2) fits in the general release strategy of having some importance to British aviation (with the occasional curveball thrown in)

3) no recent or announced subjects by other big manufacturers scheduled.

 

Oh, and take into account that from project start to product on shelves takes on average 1-2 years (depending on complexity and scale).

[JohnT]

47 minutes ago, alt-92 said:

You make it read like there's a difference on this website - you sure?  

suprised there is confusion between a wish list and’ a prediction 

 

simple example:-

 

wish list - I am taken away for a mucky weekend on three consecutive weekends by three gorgeous young ladies

 

Prediction - I get a slap when my wife sees this

 

 

[Mike]

This thread is a nightmare.  Can you please get back on topic, or at least bugger off into a more appropriate thread if you don't want to talk about the possibilities of a 1:72 Anson please? It's going to get closed down at this rate

[gingerbob]

It was pretty settled after the first post and a half anyway. 

[tempestfan]

2 hours ago, Mike said:

This thread is a nightmare.  Can you please get back on topic, or at least bugger off into a more appropriate thread if you don't want to talk about the possibilities of a 1:72 Anson please? It's going to get closed down at this rate

I plead "not guilty" this time, meludd. I was as Anson as possible. 

[PatG]

I suggest as many people as possible contact Airfix, by what ever channel they feel comfortable with, and highlight the genuine desire for a new 72nd scale Anson so that they are made aware.

 

If you don't ask then you don't get so worth a try at least, and who knows they may take some notice. And if they don't then we have done all we can.

 

Pat.

 

Ps. they've done the groundwork/research already with their 48th scale kit so at least they won't be starting from scratch.

Edited September 22, 2023 by PatG

[tempestfan]

23 hours ago, PatG said:

 

Ps. they've done the groundwork/research already with their 48th scale kit so at least they won't be starting from scratch.

So they did with the 

- Seafire 47, some 26 years ago 

- Lightning slightly later; at least they followed up with some kits not in any apparent way based on the 48th ones 

- Swordfish; Tamiya‘s doesn’t contribute to their EBIT

- Walrus - the MB was one of my really early builds so I like it but time has moved on in the last 45 years 

- Javelin: IMVHO the best 72nd kits are the original Frog and the Heller T.3. Their average age should be a bit above mine😊

- Vixen: Well, it seems the Frog is still the most accurate, in 72nd. Even though it is quite crude in many places.

 

Call off the emergency services as I won’t be holding my breath. I am quite confident a Vixen would sell, as would a cleverly-designed Anson. 

[FinnAndersen]

I normally abhors this kind of threads, but for the record: If Airfix produces a 1/72 Anson, that in quality is comparable with their recent Beaufort, I'll be a customer.

 

It's no excuse that they have the old kit, and the Anson was at least as important as the Beaufort, so what are they waiting for 🙂

 

/Finn

[Phoenix44]

3 hours ago, FinnAndersen said:

I normally abhors this kind of threads, but for the record: If Airfix produces a 1/72 Anson, that in quality is comparable with their recent Beaufort, I'll be a customer.

 

It's no excuse that they have the old kit, and the Anson was at least as important as the Beaufort, so what are they waiting for 🙂

 

/Finn

Well we know the answer - trainers do not sell as well as combat aircraft. Nobody zooms an Anson around the room making "learn, learn, learn" noises. 

[Seahawk]

On 9/19/2023 at 10:22 PM, Richard Humm said:

There have been two new single engine WWI fighters from Revell in the last ten years, an F4U-1A in 2014 and a Spitfire IIa in 2016

 

Oh dear!  Maybe it's just as well that they gave up on small-scale WWII fighters

[PatG]

If Airfix or others do an early Anson it would be nice if it offered the original 'sloped' windscreen, albeit it was not very water tight and hence the changer to the more upright one.

 

The original Airfix box art showed it with this feature but the kit itself only offered the revised and more upright configuration which was disappointing and somewhat misleading.

 

Pat.