Are Airfix missing out here...?

[Graeme]

There are a rash of new modern US light armour such as M-ATV, upgraded Hummers, Guardian etc - but where's all the British stuff? I know AA have done the Jackals (currently saving up for one of those) but Airfix, as a British company, should be all over the Mastiff, Sabre and other stuff that we now use.

If they produced a 1/35 kit to the standard of their 1/48th Lightnings, I'm sure they would sell

Graeme

[davidelvy]

They don't do 1/35, bure they are branching into 1/48 vehicles with their Landrovers, so who knows?

Edited August 8, 2011 by davidelvy

[thx6667]

I'd think more mileage in 1/48 given they can tie it in with the Lynx and Merlin kits.

[Test Graham]

If they are missing out on these subjects, then I'd have thought they should appear in Airfix's traditional AFV scale of 1/76.

However, whatever the scale, the key question is just how well known these vehicles are to the general public? Even when Airfix were producing many AFV kits, they did not give us Foxes, Ferrets, Saxons or Saracens (there was a large soft plastic version?). The market was seen to be tanks, and little else. My kids have grown up so I don't have any direct feel into the juvenile market, but I don't think there's any great visibility of current Army kit.

Edited August 8, 2011 by Graham Boak

[Dave Fleming]

My kids have grown up so I don't have any direct feel into the juvenile market, but I don't think there's any great visibility of current Army kit.

Best comparison is probably the HM Armed Forces 'Action Man' type sets, which have got a SCimitar and a Jackal in the range - but it's just a 'tank' and an 'army truck' to my 8 year old son - even the Harrier is described as a VSTOL Fast Jet, no doubt for marketing purposes!

[james424]

Lets face it guys, there's not a great deal of choice when it comes to the main scales of 1:32 and 1:48. I've been scouring the web for 1:48 scale vehicle and figures. The big question is not "why isn't there more modern stuff on the market" but it should be "why aren't there more options in general in the 1:32 and 1:48 scales".

I build aircraft models but have decided to spread my wings and have a go at some ground based stuff to go with my aircraft on a diorama - every time I come up with a good plan I get scuppered by the fact i can never find the vehicle/figure I want in the right scale!!!

I've probably opened a can of worms here but I feel more stuff should be built in scale other than 1:35!!!

[Dave Batt]

Lets face it guys, there's not a great deal of choice when it comes to the main scales of 1:32 and 1:48. I've been scouring the web for 1:48 scale vehicle and figures. The big question is not "why isn't there more modern stuff on the market" but it should be "why aren't there more options in general in the 1:32 and 1:48 scales".

I build aircraft models but have decided to spread my wings and have a go at some ground based stuff to go with my aircraft on a diorama - every time I come up with a good plan I get scuppered by the fact i can never find the vehicle/figure I want in the right scale!!!

I've probably opened a can of worms here but I feel more stuff should be built in scale other than 1:35!!!

Dead right. I'm still trying to find a set of 8th Army Desert Rats in 1/48 so I might have a chance of creating some RAF types to go with some DAF aircraft. If I wanted some(for example) 11th Lithuanian Volunteer SS Panzer Grenadiers I wouldn't have a problem, but British forces? No way.

[TheModeller]

1/32nd is effectively a dead scale as far as armour and softskins are concerned, the armour modellers just aren't interested, 1/35th rules, which isn't surprising given the sheer quantity of stuff available.

Its a bit puzzling however that none of the mainstream manufacturers have made the mental leap needed to see the market for 1/32nd airfield support vehicles and figures yet, especially given the revival of 1/32nd aircraft kits we've seen in recent years.

1/48th armour/softskins suffer because despite fitting in with 1/48th aircraft few big manufacturers seem all that willing to go beyond the WWII US/German scenario, I can't really blame them, WWII US and German stuff sells no matter the scale, so if you want vehicles suitable for use on an airfield diorama you need to look to the resin manufacturers such as Accurate Armour, of course the drawback there is the price, not everyone is keen on resin kits, and they won't sell to the mass market.

Its a frustrating situation, personally I've taken to 1/48th armour, the scale offers a good compromise on physical size and fine detail, there is plenty of aftermarket stuff available for the kits on the market and new kits are coming out quite often, Italeri have announced more kits, Bronco are popping out scaled down kits of thier Staghounds and now Airfix have announced the Landys, Jackal and Coyote kits.

The problem is that few people will start a 'collection' of 1/48th armour because the range is still fairly limited, so they don't buy the kits, so the manufacturers don't release new products, but without new products to buy the interest in the scale remains small... And thats where we came in...

I've gradually been building a small collection of wartime British cruiser tanks, from the A13 to the Comet, but that calls for two pricey resin kits, and a whole bunch of scratchbuilt conversions to get what I want, which is fine for me because I know what I'm aiming for and can source what I need via online specialist suppliers, for Joe Bloggs in Modelzone on a Saturday morning the story is very different.

[Shane]

Its a frustrating situation, personally I've taken to 1/48th armour, the scale offers a good compromise on physical size and fine detail, there is plenty of aftermarket stuff available for the kits on the market and new kits are coming out quite often, Italeri have announced more kits, Bronco are popping out scaled down kits of thier Staghounds and now Airfix have announced the Landys, Jackal and Coyote kits.

The problem is that few people will start a 'collection' of 1/48th armour because the range is still fairly limited, so they don't buy the kits, so the manufacturers don't release new products, but without new products to buy the interest in the scale remains small... And thats where we came in...

This is of course somewhat true. There isn't as much available in 1/48 as there is in 1/35.

BUT after reading another long thread on the subject (in which I suggested someone was only against Airfix making 1/48 because he personally wanted the subject in 1/35), I took the time to look and see what was actually available on Hannants site alone, from Tamiya alone, in military vehicles and figures.

That's 65 vehicle kits in 1/48, plus 10 figure kits. Not shabby at all, and there are plenty of other kits from well known armour kit manufacturers, AFV Club, Bronco, Hasegawa, Italeri and Hobby Boss.

Hannants also has 1/48 Eduard brass, Fruil tracks, Aber barrels, Black Dog and CMK resin details/conversions and a fair range of resin kits (but only a very small subset of what is available)

Personally *I* build in 1/72 for armour but as our SAS was the first customer (I think) I'll be all over the new Airfix kit in this scale - not too big for my shelves, but big enough to model the fairly complex structure.

Shane

[TheModeller]

That's 65 vehicle kits in 1/48, plus 10 figure kits. Not shabby at all, and there are plenty of other kits from well known armour kit manufacturers, AFV Club, Bronco, Hasegawa, Italeri and Hobby Boss.

If you take into account the resin manufacturers and the aftermarket lines that Hannants don't carry there is actually a huge choice of subjects and accessories in 1/48th, certainly more than enough to fill my area of interest which is British built armour.

Of course there isn't the variety and depth of the 1/35th market but I still think its a pretty healthy niche in the armour modelling world if you're into WWII subjects.

It'll be great to see Airfix add a few modern types to the selection, at the moment the only mainstream modern kits I can think of are the two Tamiya Hummer variants. An M1A1, Challenger, Warrior, M113, an M48/M60 or Merkava would all be welcome, it remains to be seen if these new kits prove popular but I hope if they do we'll see more like them.