Airfix

[Thorvic]

https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/news/workbench/hunting-the-stormbird?utm_campaign=1751474_Airfix%20-%20The%20WorkBench%20-%20%20Week%2052%20%202017&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Hornby%20PLC&utm_content=WorkBench&_%24ja=tsid%3A71284&dm_i=2DJZ,11JG2,22YGPS,32YE0,1

Latest workbench with details of their new Me-262 due out in June pity no sprue shots at this time.

[The Wooksta!]

Not enthused with the JG7 option on the decals - Revell have done that one.

Given my antipathy towards anything wearing the Swastika, it's unlikely to be a kit I'll be buying.  I'm wanting to cull the stash, not add to it!*







*except Spitfires.  Obviously.

[McColm]

Just seen the Airfix Model World May issue, pages 48-55 the first look of the Avro Shackleton AEW.2.
Jammed packed with interior detailing, but as before you can't see it in its glory.
Priced at £44.99, where as the Revell kit is £10 cheaper for the same model.

[The Wooksta!]

And?  It's not the same model.  The Revell kit is woefully misshapen, engines undersized and has a lack of detail or details that are for the MR3 not the AEW2, plus the cockpit detail is simplified and crude by comparison with the Airfix kit.  The Revell Shack is the Happy Shopper kit.  Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer choice.

[NARSES2]

Little bit of financial news.

Hornby's largest shareholder has announced it is to purchase 17.6 million shares from another shareholder. This will give it a 55.2% stake which means under financial regulations it has to make an offer for the remaining shares.

They have also said that Hornby will retain it's listing on the A.I.M. and they regard this as a good investment in a "great business which is having short term issues and is thus currently cheap". Hornby's losses reduced considerably in 2016 over 2015 and they are expecting to turn a profit in 2018.

Some good news at last as the last couple of years have been quite worrying if you read the financial press, or in my case, still skim through after 35 years of going through it every day of my working life 

[PR19_Kit]

Who are the largest shareholder? Anyone we know?

[rickshaw]

A new Wellington has been announced!   

[NARSES2]

A new Wellington has been announced!   

Yup in 1/72, a Mk I.C for 2018.

Who are the largest shareholder? Anyone we know?

No Kit. They are a professional investment company Phoenix Asset Management.

Hornby's MD claimed their bid seriously undervalued the company and has advised rejection. My own view is that it will go through at a slightly higher price. All part of the "Game".

I think a couple of business editors in the papers are closet railway/model/scaletrix buffs as they always flag these Hornby issues up, and Hornby are a fairly minor business in reality 

[KiwiZac]

The Workbench article announcing the Wimpy: https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/news/workbench/workbench-edition-50

[PR19_Kit]

It's great to see a 'modern technology' Wellington being planned, but I can't help feeling it's going to be pretty expensive with all that interior detail that will be all but invisible once it's assembled.

The Shackleton kits were just the same, and I feel there would have been considerable mileage in making a cheaper version without all the interior stuff, it'd just be a matter of not including some of the sprues, if they were designed correctly of course.

[king of men]

It's great to see a 'modern technology' Wellington being planned, but I can't help feeling it's going to be pretty expensive with all that interior detail that will be all but invisible once it's assembled.

The Shackleton kits were just the same, and I feel there would have been considerable mileage in making a cheaper version without all the interior stuff, it'd just be a matter of not including some of the sprues, if they were designed correctly of course.

Agree completely with detail that can't be seen. I wonder what the ratio would be if they released one kit with additional internal sprues, and then another without. And what the difference in price would be. The delta would only be tooling costs, since the sunk costs of research would be the same for both. Something to ponder.

[zenrat]

What percentage of the retail price is the actual cost of the plastic?
I suspect that once all the research and tool design has been factored into the cost then leaving out a sprue wouldn't make much difference.  After all, look at kits of armoured vehicles that combine the hull of one thing with the turret of another.  It's common to see reviews stating that a kit contains a lot of extra sprues from one or other of the original kits.

This new Wellington announcement leaves me slightly underwhelmed.  Not an aircraft I have ever felt the urge to model except for the Mk V & VI pressurised versions.

[NARSES2]

What percentage of the retail price is the actual cost of the plastic?
I suspect that once all the research and tool design has been factored into the cost then leaving out a sprue wouldn't make much difference. 

I think you are absolutely right. All these extras add a fairly minimal increase in cost. It's the R&D and initial tooling costs that matter. Although I wonder if they have considered offering these internal detail sprues as extras, in a similar way as the boxed P.R. set for the Victor (was it ?). Given the price they could sell it at would probably increase their profit margins as well ?

This new Wellington announcement leaves me slightly underwhelmed.  Not an aircraft I have ever felt the urge to model except for the Mk V & VI pressurised versions.

I'm getting seriously worried about this as I agree with you again  Never got into the Wellington. As a kid it was almost an "also ran" and the Lancaster was the "Superstar". I now know how wrong was I was, but still don't have a "feel" for it. The Mk. V and Vi however. Weird enough to make me want one 

[Thorvic]

No I like it, they are replacing an old tooling that's had to be covered by re-boxed MPM version, the Trumpeter kit is nice but they overdid the geodetic effect. It fits in well with the early war period and complements the Whitley, the opened up doors will be ideal with the bomber support set (something they missed when they did the Lancaster's ). They will probably have other variants of it the pipeline to follow in 2019 or beyond, but the 1C is still good as it led the Bomber campaign in the early years, plus you can use the Lowewolf conversion set to do the first AEW one with the TV detector van fairing.

Given that Airfix are doing it you might well see a decent high altitude conversion set by a decent aftermarket producer, always one to suggest to Colin, Glen or Alec.

[Thorvic]

Also that's just the first sneak peek at the 2018 releases, being the end of WW1 and the 100th of the RAF, expect an RAF bias with a mixed range of releases, we know we can probably guess on the RAF Phantom FGR2, and theirs a strong chance of an alternative Victor boxing, there's likely going to be something big (SMW reveal ?) but whether its a big 1/72nd heavy, a 48th or maybe 24th anything from WW1 to present day is possible.