Airfix

[Beermonster58]

Some grumpy gits on here today. 

I would suggest that the term "disappointed" would  be a much fairer description and, in my view, rightly so. Too start with, we had all they hype, build up and anticipation promoted by the manufacturer itself which, turned out to be largely pointless and exaggerated although, I freely accept that modellers  do not help by allowing themselves to be duped into a feeding frenzy of anticipation.

But, what we have instead?  Aircraft subjects (particularly 1/72) are their biggest market and yet, As already stated several times, their customers this year get little more than crumbs from the table. 1/72 in particular, gives us only an overpriced, simplified "starter set" and, a bunch of retreads with different decals at higher prices. The latter of course will have already have been purchased in their original guise and, I suggest the disappointment is reflected in the comments of those (like me ) who already have the originals and simply don't want any more. There has also been a disturbing (in my view anyway) emphasis on 1/48 creeping in with regard to aircraft kits.

It's pretty clear that there is a lot of disappointment in Airfix this year and, I suspect that this might very well be reflected in significantly reduced sales which, no doubt ,will reflect in an even less impressive programme for 2024. At least Airfix has saved me money this year which I can spend elsewhere. The only two kits I will be buying are the Brewster Buffalo and, Fairey Rotodyne.

I'm sure other modellers will take a different view. That's fair enough and,. I respect that. It is what it is and, I'm not going to dwell on an otherwise miserable Airfix year. At least I've got something out of it which, I guess is  all that one can really ask for. Most of my custom goes elsewhere this year. My choice and, Airfix's loss.
 
 

Exactly and that's my fear by providing a lack lustre 72nd range, they will judge sales falling and focus even less on it next time around, in effect by killing off their own range and possibly their business by not providing product the modellers want to buy. I must have bought 20 Phantoms and 20 buccaneers, but only one meteor and tempest. I'll buy the noddy F35B as will be a background filler but would have bought multiples of a decent kit.
Airfix have increasingly focused on 48th scale and are ignoring 72nd as we have been pleading for them to scale down the Sea Vixen, Javelin, Seafires and now the Anson. They correct failing in the 48th hunter but not the 72nd Phantom and with the Buccaneers in 72nd you get either early RN service or end of service options but no options to do the main cold war 70s/80s options with the anti-ship missiles all of which are provided in the 48th kits.
Yes many senior or returning modellers who tend to be more vocal on social media have switched to the larger scales, but as can be seen on here many of us are not upscaling, as don't have the space, the money or inclination to change up especially when most of existing collection in 72nd.

I don't begrudge Airfix doing the 48th kits, expanding the 43rd cars and applaud the choice to develop the 35th Ferret, but to sacrifice the traditional 72nd range seems to be very short sighted and foolish.

They are all doing the same , Revell, Italeri, Airfix focusing on larger scale vain big ticket projects but treating 72nd with rehashes 

Excellent point. Hard to argue with that. Like you, I have no quarrel with Airfix diversifying but, not at the expense of their core market. That I think is something that could turn round and bite them if they aren't careful.  I'm now 64 and, have been modelling for over 50 of those years. Exclusively 1/72. I have nothing against larger scales per se, I just have no interest in changing over. Any thing I have in a scale larger than 1/72 has been recieved as a gift. I don't buy anything other than 1/72 primarily for reasons of cost and,space.
Regarding Airfix 1/48  (and larger) kits, they're largely priced out of my affordability range anyway. The price for the much heralded Buccaneer for example was a shocker!

I have no particular brand loyalty to Airfix and, have no problem taking my custom elsewhere. As in 2022, the only custom they will get from me is from the Vintage Classics range. I'm sorry to have to say this but, if Airfix does end up (as you put it )  killing off its own range and, possibly its business, then they will have none to blame but themselves and, I while I might mourn their passing, it is hard to express sympathy if the damage is self inflicted.

[kitbasher]

I realise I'm going to be accused of being a heretic here, but isn't it just possible that 1/72 aircraft are no longer the core market, and that by diversifying their range Airfix is seeking to secure its future?

And I'll buy an Airfix F-35 - I quite fancy a quick and easy build of something.

[PR19_Kit]

Define 'core market'..............

That depends on where you are IN the market, and the sales reps will have a totally different view to the model builder, the development manager and the marketing dept. And they'll ALL be different to the CFO's opinion!

It will also change with time and only the sales dept. will have the actual figures on that and they won't tell as they'll have been sworn to secrecy by the CFO etc. So they can say it's any market they want it to be really. And curently that's 1/48 because they make more profit.

Nothing changes in the commercial world.

[Pellson]

I can see the economics of offering larger kits for more money when the main cost is in development rather than in production. A small kit will cost as much as a big to bring to the market, but can't be priced anywhere near it's bigger sister. That shouldn't mean the demise of the 1/72 range, though. As shown elsewhere, there are loads of big aircraft to be modelled. The Belfast and the Beverley to begin with the most obvious. And why not the An-225 Mriya, preferrably with whatif options for several western air forces, half the extortionate selling price going to Ukraine. I'd buy at least three (and a warehouse to display them)

[Rheged]

If the bean counters in the Airfix accounts department  reckon that 1/48 is the best way to keep the company trading, then we have to accept it.   Some 1/72 kits are better than NO Airfix at all.

[Snowtrooper]

Airfix just might be thinking to cater not only for modelers but hobby gamers as well. What with the "scale creep", the "heroic 28mm" scale popular in wargames, RPG figures, and miniature-heavy board games is now closer to 1:48 (total figure heights are approaching 35mm, more if you count the base the figure is on), and even 1:43 cars don't look too out of scale with them. Those McLaren and Lambo would fit right in with the figures from the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 board game to be used in Cyberpunk tabletop RPG, and that Land Rover goes well with just about any modern, near-future, or possibly even far-future military miniatures with a little handwaving. Suitably Imperialized/Orkified it wouldn't look too out of place even in Warhammer 40K (back in the Dark Age of Technology, they would surely have picked into the Standard Template Construct the most robust multipurpose off-road vehicle in all of history).

Interesting that they offer the Buffalo only in RAF markings (supposed to be the long-nosed F2A-2/B-339), even though the kit better represents the F2A-1/B-239 (and even then the cowling is too short).

[Old Wombat]

If you look back over the last decade, gentlemen, I think you'll find that Airfix, largely, failed to produce all that many 1/48 aircraft kits (certainly not new moulds), focussing on, primarily, 1/72 (Although, I must admit, many of them are new moulds of previously produced kits). Meanwhile the Japanese & Chinese companies ramped up production in 1/48 scale because that scale began to sell more, for whatever reason that was.

Airfix has only recently (in the last 3 to 5 years) begun playing a small game of catch-up & have, wisely, mostly chosen kits of aircraft that are under-represented from other manufacturers (Sea Fury, Buccaneer, Hurricane & , now, Gannet spring to mind here).

The market has to to play a role in Airfix's decisions on what to produce, it is a company that exists to make profits for its shareholders, after all, not a charity. If the 1/48 market is growing they would be fools not to grow their catalogue of 1/48 kits; just as they have (finally) come to their senses re: 1/35 & 1/72 armour instead of 1/32 & 1/76.

Also, it's easier (although, not exactly easy) to down-scale the CAD files from a larger to a smaller scale. So producing a successful kit in 1/48 is more likely to result in a 1/72 kit of the same subject being released at a later date than it is the other way around.

[PR19_Kit]

Meanwhile the Japanese & Chinese companies ramped up production in 1/48 scale because that scale began to sell more, for whatever reason that was.

Perhaps because there were no new kits of those particular subjects in 1/72 scale? That's the manufacturer driving the market size up to improve their profits.

Exactly the same thing is happening right now in the RW car market, the manufacturers are stopping production of small cars because they can't sell them at a price which recoups their costs. Instead they're building these behemoths of 'SUV's (which are neither Sporty nor Utilitarian....) which cost a similar amount to design and manufacture and they can sell at higher prices. Viz. the Ford Fiesta, Ford's small car of choice recently, has just ceased production, and won't have a replacement in the Ford range.

Also, it's easier (although, not exactly easy) to down-scale the CAD files from a larger to a smaller scale. So producing a successful kit in 1/48 is more likely to result in a 1/72 kit of the same subject being released at a later date than it is the other way around.

Rather oddly Airfix have history in up and down scaling, but got it totally wrong. The original TSR2, sold in 1/72 scale, was designed as a 1/48 scale model which they then shrunk to 1/72, and as far as accuracy is concerned, made a pretty good job of it for its time. When they later did the same aircraft in 1/48 scale, they designed a brand new kit and didn't use their original 1/48 master! With the result that they got it wrong, the notorious nose taper.

[Steel Penguin]

i also think there is a convergence at 1:48, there are more other kits being produced there,  armour etc,  which give the possibility of both diorama use, and as mentioned above wargames use, though most medium and heavy armour in that scale in a wargame is kind of like a knife fight in a telephone box..

[The Rat]

With the result that they got it wrong, the notorious nose taper.

"This is the BBC, here is the news. Shouting erupted in the House of Commons today when the Labour Party revealed a scandal involving the revered modeling brand Airfix. It appears that the production department had received bribes from after-market producer 'Nose Jobs Incorporated' to purposely sabotage the long-awaited 1/48th scale TSR2, giving the model an incorrect taper to the pointy end. Sir Geoffrey Wellington-Bottomly, Minister for Hobbies and Recreational Pursuits, promised a full government inquiry into the situation, and has assured members that previous rumours of the nationalisation of 'Nose Jobs Incorporated' were untrue, the government had no foreknowledge of the sabotage, and the relationship between himself and the wife of the owner of NJI was purely coincidental. He further stated that grainy photos of the two of them at the Fawlty Towers hotel in Torquay were misidentifications."

[Rick Lowe]

I've built the SWB Land Rover.  Its basic.  For best results paint the "glass" black on the inside and print a radiator grille.

That Land Rover started out in 1992 as a short run kit from JB Models. Basic yes, but not too bad for where it came from.
Airfix bought the JB range in 2007-ish and kept on popping them.
Fun little builds that add to a diorama.

Different kit, the old Airfix SWB long pre-dated the JB LWB.

[Beermonster58]

/quote]
Lack of choice perhaps? Maybe the manufacturers took away the option from consumers, telling them that if they wanted a kit of (insert) , then it was going to be 1/48 or, not at all? (Tongue only slightly in cheek!)   I don't really have an answer to the "whatever reason". There could be many reasons.

[zenrat]

I've built the SWB Land Rover.  Its basic.  For best results paint the "glass" black on the inside and print a radiator grille.

That Land Rover started out in 1992 as a short run kit from JB Models. Basic yes, but not too bad for where it came from.
Airfix bought the JB range in 2007-ish and kept on popping them.
Fun little builds that add to a diorama.

Different kit, the old Airfix SWB long pre-dated the JB LWB.

Thought so.  I had an Airfix Herc in the late 70's (moulded in monkey s**t tan) which included the bloodhound set.

The scale Airfix produce their new kits in is mostly irrelevant if the supply to my local market remains the pitiful dribble it currently is.  LHSs all have very few kits in red boxes on their shelves and all tell me the same thing - they can't get them from the local distributors.

[Weaver]

I've built the SWB Land Rover.  Its basic.  For best results paint the "glass" black on the inside and print a radiator grille.

That Land Rover started out in 1992 as a short run kit from JB Models. Basic yes, but not too bad for where it came from.
Airfix bought the JB range in 2007-ish and kept on popping them.
Fun little builds that add to a diorama.

Different kit, the old Airfix SWB long pre-dated the JB LWB.

Thought so.  I had an Airfix Herc in the late 70's (moulded in monkey s**t tan) which included the bloodhound set.

The scale Airfix produce their new kits in is mostly irrelevant if the supply to my local market remains the pitiful dribble it currently is.  LHSs all have very few kits in red boxes on their shelves and all tell me the same thing - they can't get them from the local distributors.

Is the problem that the local distributors aren't ordering enough, or is the supply from Airfix throttled?

[zenrat]

I've built the SWB Land Rover.  Its basic.  For best results paint the "glass" black on the inside and print a radiator grille.

That Land Rover started out in 1992 as a short run kit from JB Models. Basic yes, but not too bad for where it came from.
Airfix bought the JB range in 2007-ish and kept on popping them.
Fun little builds that add to a diorama.

Different kit, the old Airfix SWB long pre-dated the JB LWB.

Thought so.  I had an Airfix Herc in the late 70's (moulded in monkey s**t tan) which included the bloodhound set.

The scale Airfix produce their new kits in is mostly irrelevant if the supply to my local market remains the pitiful dribble it currently is.  LHSs all have very few kits in red boxes on their shelves and all tell me the same thing - they can't get them from the local distributors.

Is the problem that the local distributors aren't ordering enough, or is the supply from Airfix throttled?

Don't know.  The demand is there but the shelves are empty.  Larger more distant stores seem to get stock.  Small local retailers suffer.