Why don't Airfix scale up there military vehicles

[Selina]

I want to make some 1/35 scale Brit LRs and 4 tonne trucks etc without having to pay Accurate Armour prices. Surely there is a demand from UK modellers for modern or cold war 1/35 scale vehicles by simply scaling up the Airfix 1/72 and 1/76 stuff, not rocket science. As Airfix were bold enough to produce their first 1/350 scale ship recently it would be nice to see them making a plunge into modern/cold war armour and vehicles in 1/35 scale.

[Deon]

I want to make some 1/35 scale Brit LRs and 4 tonne trucks etc without having to pay Accurate Armour prices. Surely there is a demand from UK modellers for modern or cold war 1/35 scale vehicles by simply scaling up the Airfix 1/72 and 1/76 stuff, not rocket science. As Airfix were bold enough to produce their first 1/350 scale ship recently it would be nice to see them making a plunge into modern/cold war armour and vehicles in 1/35 scale.

problem with scaling up rather than making new prototypes is that detail gets a little soggy, like the revell panzerhaubitze. In 72 scale its sharp as a pin but the 35th scale version looses that sharpness. Im sure theres a market for 1/35th from airfix too, id certainly be interested

[Selina]

problem with scaling up rather than making new prototypes is that detail gets a little soggy, like the revell panzerhaubitze. In 72 scale its sharp as a pin but the 35th scale version looses that sharpness. Im sure theres a market for 1/35th from airfix too, id certainly be interested

maybe worth adding it to the suggestion book at Telford this on the Airfix stand

[andym]

Sadly I don't think there is big enough market for injection moulded 1/35 Modern British stuff. Anyone else care to discuss?

Andy

[Test Graham]

Although Airfix now own these tools, the modern 1/76 line was not originally tooled by Airfix, but by an individual who had left the company to set up on his won. For this reason the kits are slightly "soggy" by mainstream producer standards even in 1/76, and I suspect the tools are wearing out more quickly than the older Airfix tooling such as the Chieftain.

Although there may be a significant market for British fighting vehicles in 1/35, support vehicles are inevitably much less in demand in any scale. I suspect that it is the wargaming market that provides enough sales for 1/76 models, and doubt that exists in the larger scale.

It is worth pointing out that Airfix have not produced a new tool in 1/76 for many years, their recent "new" releases being modifications of their current range, and not always appropriate (or entirely desirable) because of that.

[Dave Fleming]

Perhaps the market is there to be created. Point to remeber is none of these are Airfix originals, they are all JB Models kits that Airfix bought the moulds for, so they may not even have the original research.

Also, most of them are 10-20 years old at least (I built the Land Rover first in about 1985!!), so even in 1/76th the detail is hardly state of the art.

[Dave Fleming]

Although Airfix now own these tools, the modern 1/76 line was not originally tooled by Airfix, but by an individual who had left the company to set up on his won.

Minor correction - John previously worked for Matchbox rather than Airfix, a fact can bee seen in the kit style and the instructions!!

[pigsty]

Someone, though (Hobby Boss?) is about to release a range of 1/35 Land Rovers. These have the advantage of being much more widely used than many military vehicles. The fact that the others have mainly appeared in resin from Scotland may indicate that the demand's not there. Or, as Dave says, perhaps the market niche is wide open. But who will risk a million on finding out?

[lufbramatt]

It is worth pointing out that Airfix have not produced a new tool in 1/76 for many years, their recent "new" releases being modifications of their current range, and not always appropriate (or entirely desirable) because of that.

the 1:76 Bedford QL kits are new tools, and not modifications of the old one.

[daz greenwood]

Airfix doing Bedford QL's?

This I didn't know.

I have a couple by IBG and they are very nice!

[Test Graham]

The QLs are not out yet, so I haven't been able to confirm whether they are all new tooling. What I have seen, with all due limitations etc, suggests that they have the same fault(s) as the original (tyre size, for example) so I suspect they are at least based on the old tooling. I would love to be proven wrong.

The IBG kits are indeed lovely, but so finely made as to be a real pain to remove the pieces without breakages, with more parts than are really necessary, and of course the wrong scale for anyone with a large investment in earlier kits.

[lufbramatt]

The QLs are not out yet, so I haven't been able to confirm whether they are all new tooling. What I have seen, with all due limitations etc, suggests that they have the same fault(s) as the original (tyre size, for example) so I suspect they are at least based on the old tooling. I would love to be proven wrong.

The IBG kits are indeed lovely, but so finely made as to be a real pain to remove the pieces without breakages, with more parts than are really necessary, and of course the wrong scale for anyone with a large investment in earlier kits.

the QLD and QLT were on display at Yeoviton at the spring model show, they are definately 100% new tool, tyre size looked spot on to me, even had different hubs front/rear like on the real thing. The QL has 10.5x20 tyres which have quite a narrow profile compared to say a Matador tyre which is much fatter. The Airfix reps down there said the old refueller QL couldn't be used at all as they cant import any of the parts into their 3D CAD system so they had to start from scratch. The QLT even comes complete with a bicycle hung on the back.

From the airfix website, I presume this is taken from the CAD used to make the tools:

Edited June 9, 2010 by lufbramatt

[Test Graham]

It was those very photos that led me to be concerned about the wheel size, because they appear to be the same as the earlier kit. I hope you are right: I'll be buying them anyway.

[daz greenwood]

I'll invest in some of these too!

[lufbramatt]

here's a real QLT, there is quite a big gap between the wheel and the arch, they had quite a lot of suspension travel so need room for the wheel to move upwards:

[Deon]

Thats jolly nice, i look forwards to geting a few of those. As for the original topic on 1/35th i seem to remember some soft plastic vehicles by AIrfix, a Stalwart and possibly others in that scale?

[daz greenwood]

Deon IIRC those soft plastic ones by Airfix were 1/32.

[Okdoky]

I want to make some 1/35 scale Brit LRs and 4 tonne trucks etc without having to pay Accurate Armour prices. Surely there is a demand from UK modellers for modern or cold war 1/35 scale vehicles by simply scaling up the Airfix 1/72 and 1/76 stuff, not rocket science. As Airfix were bold enough to produce their first 1/350 scale ship recently it would be nice to see them making a plunge into modern/cold war armour and vehicles in 1/35 scale.

This is one kit in 1/35 of modern uk Challenger

Airfix Challenger 1/35

Maybe Airfix bought the tooling from somewhere else and secretly planning more !!!!!!!

It would be nice to have a market based on UK vehicles past and present.

Nigel

Edited June 9, 2010 by Okdoky

[Richard M]

That Challenger is a re-boxing of Trumpeter kit number 35308. The M1A2 Abrams is the Italeri kit, the other 1/35 armour etc kits issued in the 70's were boxings of Max kits.

See the history section on the ATF for more info;

http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/about1679.html

Best

Rich

Edited June 9, 2010 by Richard M

[Dave Fleming]

Thats jolly nice, i look forwards to geting a few of those. As for the original topic on 1/35th i seem to remember some soft plastic vehicles by AIrfix, a Stalwart and possibly others in that scale?

My 6 year old has my old Stalwart and absolutely loves it - as well as my 1/32 Airfix figures, it's seen action everywhere from Indiana JOnes to Doctor Who via Tatooine!!

They also did an Abbot, a 105mm gun and a Bedford RL, as well as a number of WW2 subjects. Great website here:

http://www.airfixtoysoldiers.com/ready_made_vehicles.htm

[Andrew Jones]

It was those very photos that led me to be concerned about the wheel size, because they appear to be the same as the earlier kit. I hope you are right: I'll be buying them anyway.

Look at the wheel centres, the're dished, the original QL in the refueling set didn't have dished centres.