Airfix

[The Rat]

I'll wade into the debate here by saying that I don't envy the job of those who are trying to figure out the minds of modelers. There have been absolute pie-in-the-sky Luft '46 things that seem to have sold well, while other real aircraft have hardly been touched. As many of you know I loved Matchbox for the way they did things like the Heyford and Wellesley, which many of us years ago probably never thought we would see. But it may have also been part of their demise, although I will admit that financial machinations bore me to tears, so I may be wrong. Valom seems to have a current fascination for rare British WWII and post-war subjects, with things like HP Harrows, Bristol Bombays, Brigands, and Buckmasters. Are they selling well?

If it isn't sacrilegious to say so, Spitfires, Hurricanes, and Mustangs, are probably over-represented, except perhaps for obscure variants. It seems that these are always among the first kits produced whenever a new company starts up, along with the inevitable 'Teutonic Plague.' (Sorry not sorry, I don't do any WWII axis stuff, gives me the creeps)

Once again I'll put in my weekly request for a Hindustan HF-24 Marut. Economists are predicting that India will have the largest middle-class population in the world within 5 years, and I know that on other more general modeling boards, like ARC, Indian modelers are well represented, so I'm sure the market is there.

And with the rise of 3D printers, which are getting better and cheaper all the time, will we soon see a shift away from companies producing anything obscure, but instead selling plans for things to print out at home? I believe software can be made in such a way that it can only be downloaded once, to get around resellers, but again, I may be wrong.

And please, let's keep it civil, at the moment a lot of us have other battles that are far more important.

[Steel Penguin]

ill stick my head above the parapet here.
1:48 armour
CVRT scorpion, scimitar and associated others,  centurion, chieftain   Tamiya are doing a challenger  so possibly not that, but its a good size and can go with long period of airframes they make  50s- now.
US, West German, French ground vehicles for the same period, Warsaw Pact as well.
Crew for the modern Helos they did.

 

[jcf]

I guess reading comprehension is still a challenge for some folks. 

I stated that a 1/72nd scale kit is a possibility, the doubts I expressed were about a 1/48th scale kit.

As to the Airfix Swift, well it's 1/72nd innit?

I don't think there is any problem with reading comprehension  and, your doubts about a 1/48 kit are perhaps unfounded. As I mentioned previously, a company called D B Model Kits is working on a 1/48 Scimitar due for release October 2023. Clearly they have no doubts.

So they've been claiming, along with their still non-existent 1/32nd scale Fury and the De Havilland Hornet.
if and when it comes out based on their claims on details and kit contents etc. it's going to $$$.

[Weaver]

 Guys, a request please:

There are lots of lists on this thread now, and it's by no means clear which have been posted on the Airfix video by their author and which havn't. If they havn't been posted on the video, then posting them here will achieve nothing: Airfix aren't looking at this site.

If you want me to post your list on the video for you, then PLEASE SEND ME A PRIVATE MESSAGE telling me, unambiguously, that that's what you want me to do. Otherwise, I won't do it.


With regard to big, expensive kits, size and expense doesn't seem to be a deal-breaker, judging by Airfix's enthusiasm for 1/24th scale models.

With regard to obscure subjects, as Ratty correctly points out, Revell's back catalogue is full of Luft '46 stuff with varying degrees of credibility.

I think that the interest in obscure subjects has been growing steadily for 20+ years now, due mainly to the fact that the drumbeat of new military aircraft slowed to a crawl after the end of the Cold War. There just isn't the supply of 'cool new stuff' to keep enthusiasts fed these days, so publishers have taken to ransacking company archives for anything they can call 'secret' in the wake of the success of the Secret Projects books. The books have made the subject of what-ifs respectable, and that carries over to the proportion of aircraft enthusiasts who are modellers.

[NARSES2]

Valom seems to have a current fascination for rare British WWII and post-war subjects, with things like HP Harrows, Bristol Bombays, Brigands, and Buckmasters. Are they selling well?

They seem to be bringing out new kits on a regular basis, so it would seem they are happy with the returns ? Also their quality is improving, so they are obviously happy to invest. Of course the whole scale of their operation is far smaller than Arfix's, so production/operating costs are far lower. Oh and they do a Wellesley Ratty 

[zenrat]

ill stick my head above the parapet here.
1:48 armour
CVRT scorpion, scimitar and associated others,  centurion, chieftain   Tamiya are doing a challenger  so possibly not that, but its a good size and can go with long period of airframes they make  50s- now.
US, West German, French ground vehicles for the same period, Warsaw Pact as well...

Second that.  Although just concentrate on the Warsaw Pact stuff.  ZSU 57-2, a Shilka, and a Skrezhet to start with.   

[Lost Cosmonauts]

Airfix are a business that exists to make a profit. They are not a charity producing unmarketable and poor selling items to frothing at the mouth loons on t'nterweb demanding their particular moon on a frakking stick!

Quite, that's my business plan and I don't need or want Airfix encroaching on my turf

[Pellson]

Airfix are a business that exists to make a profit. They are not a charity producing unmarketable and poor selling items to frothing at the mouth loons on t'nterweb demanding their particular moon on a frakking stick!

Quite, that's my business plan and I don't need or want Airfix encroaching on my turf

 

[elmayerle]

Once again I'll put in my weekly request for a Hindustan HF-24 Marut. Economists are predicting that India will have the largest middle-class population in the world within 5 years, and I know that on other more general modeling boards, like ARC, Indian modelers are well represented, so I'm sure the market is there.

Unless it's ruinously expensive in 1/72, or even 1/48, put me down for multiples of the HF-24.  For goodness' sake, there's already a kit available of the first two HA-300 protootypes (3rd prototype and production aircraft were supposed to have variable intakes and a modified aft fuselage to accommodate the afterburning E300 engine - from pictures, the intakes from a 1/144 F-104 look to be about right for a 1/72 Ha-300).  HF-24 has whif potential, too.  Af production follow-on to teh one serving as the E300 testbed in Egyptian and Indian markings as well as the basic HF-24 in Argentinian markings as an II.Ae. Pulqui III.

[The Rat]

Oh and they do a Wellesley Ratty 

Yes they do, and from all accounts it's as good as the Matchbox one.

[Weaver]

Once again I'll put in my weekly request for a Hindustan HF-24 Marut. Economists are predicting that India will have the largest middle-class population in the world within 5 years, and I know that on other more general modeling boards, like ARC, Indian modelers are well represented, so I'm sure the market is there.

However the question is, do Airfix sell kits in India? Just because a lot are made there doesn't mean they have a distribution and retail operation in the country. A quick search on their website showed zero retailers within 500 miles of Mumbai and only one within 500 miles of Delhi.

[The Rat]

However the question is, do Airfix sell kits in India? Just because a lot are made there doesn't mean they have a distribution and retail operation in the country. A quick search on their website showed zero retailers within 500 miles of Mumbai and only one within 500 miles of Delhi.

India is tech-savvy, they can buy on-line.

[Weaver]

However the question is, do Airfix sell kits in India? Just because a lot are made there doesn't mean they have a distribution and retail operation in the country. A quick search on their website showed zero retailers within 500 miles of Mumbai and only one within 500 miles of Delhi.

India is tech-savvy, they can buy on-line.

But from how far away and at what cost in postage?

[zenrat]

However the question is, do Airfix sell kits in India? Just because a lot are made there doesn't mean they have a distribution and retail operation in the country. A quick search on their website showed zero retailers within 500 miles of Mumbai and only one within 500 miles of Delhi.

India is tech-savvy, they can buy on-line.

But from how far away and at what cost in postage?

Japan, China, and South Korea are all closer.

[Weaver]

However the question is, do Airfix sell kits in India? Just because a lot are made there doesn't mean they have a distribution and retail operation in the country. A quick search on their website showed zero retailers within 500 miles of Mumbai and only one within 500 miles of Delhi.

India is tech-savvy, they can buy on-line.

But from how far away and at what cost in postage?

Japan is close.

Indeed: I'm not saying it isn't done, I'm saying that's the limiting factor. I have no idea how cheap or expensive it is to buy something abroad and have it shipped to India.