Airfix

[kitbasher]

Does anybody whinge as much as British modellers do when Airfix release a new tool kit that isn't in holy 1/72nd scale?
🙄

Nope.  And I wonder what reactions would have been like if the 1/48 Lysander announcement at Telford had been held back until yesterday?

 It's sad (can you imagine what happens in Italy or Japan respectively when Italeri or Hasegawa announces their release programmes??).

Airfix isn't a charity yet is pilloried all too often.  That said, the Jaguar GR1 Vintage Classic definitely caused me to scratch my head in bewilderment.

[PR19_Kit]

1/72 scale is the 'standard' modelling scale in the UK, just as 1/48 is in the US, because of the amount of the relative space available in our houses perhaps?

It's not 'holy' but it is practical.

[Weaver]

Does anybody whinge as much as British modellers do when Airfix release a new tool kit that isn't in holy 1/72nd scale?
🙄

I don't whinge when they release a new tool kit that isn't in 1/72nd scale: I whinge when they don't release as many kits in 1/72nd scale as other scales. This is because, for financial, practical, and, yes, emotional reasons, I'm not interested in bigger scales than 1/72nd. The fact that you notice this as a trend proves that I'm not alone in this point of view.

The idea that Airfix are deliberately trying to push 1/72nd modellers towards 1/48th isn't a baseless conspiracy theory either: their social media accounts have put out posts saying things like "if you've never built one, what would it take to get you to try a 1/48th kit" (or 1/24th) in the last year. It's pretty clear that they think 1/48th is where their future lies.

Of course they have the right to pursue whatever product strategy they see fit, and I'd rather see them leave me behind than go bust. Having said that, as a British modeller, when the biggest and most iconic British model company, into who's pockets I've put thousands of pounds over the years, sees fit to move away from my area of modelling and not produce anything that I want to buy, I have a right to say what I think about it. Not only that, but as a loyal customer, I have a duty to tell them clearly that I will NOT be moving to 1/48th, that if they pursue this policy too hard then they WILL leave me and my custom behind, and that I'm far from the only customer who feels that way.

Two things can be true at once:

1. I support the Triumph Motorcycle Company, I hope they continue to thrive in the future, and I'm happy to say that both publically and to them directly.

2. I've never bought a Triumph motorcycle, and am increasingly unlikely to ever do so, because they make nothing I either want or can afford, and their dealer network isn't dense enough to give me the kind of customer support I need. It's entirely reasonable to say that both publically and to them directly too, not least because it's something they need to know.

[PR19_Kit]

"if you've never built one, what would it take to get you to try a 1/48th kit"

THEY'D have to buy me a larger house, and ensure that all the odd-ball models I'd like to build, or have already built (think PR19....) will be available in 1/48 at A PRICE I COULD AFFORD.

It's that simple.

[Weaver]

"if you've never built one, what would it take to get you to try a 1/48th kit"

THEY'D have to buy me a larger house, and ensure that all the odd-ball models I'd like to build, or have already built (think PR19....) will be available in 1/48 at A PRICE I COULD AFFORD.

It's that simple.

I said much the same to them, as did many others.

[seadude]

I get it that a lot of modelers (US, UK, etc.) like and/or want smaller scale models because they don't take up much room as what larger scales do.
But for me, I "WANT/NEED" larger models because I have bad eyesight. The smaller the model, the harder it is for me to see parts/details and to put it together. The larger the model, then vice versa and the better it is for me to detail it. Especially for ships.
There are rare exceptions when I'll build a smaller scale kit. But it depends on the subject and what I might be able to whif it into.

[PR19_Kit]

The point is there's room for ALL scales, but there's not a proper reason for manufacturers to try and persuade us to move to larger scales just because they want us to.

It's just profiteering on their part, and I KNOW about the point of capitalism etc, so don't need reminding!

[The Rat]

The point is there's room for ALL scales, but there's not a proper reason for manufacturers to try and persuade us to move to larger scales just because they want us to.

It's just profiteering on their part, and I KNOW about the point of capitalism etc, so don't need reminding!

   And if they want to recruit youngsters into the hobby, pocket money will buy a couple or three 1/72nd kits for the price of a 1/48th, they will go together easier, be cheaper to paint, and take up less space on a bookshelf.

[Thorvic]

The problem is we traditional 72nd modellers are older and too polite, the 48th modellers are more vocal on-line either asking or demanding everything should be 48th if announced in 72nd. Most of the model mags focus on super detailed 48th builds these days and the stock modellers tend to have scaled up to 48th.

I'm like many of you 72nd mostly (i also do 1/700) and i hsve no interest in switching to 48th, i dont have the space, the money or even like the scale that much as it feels oversized to me.

The current Airfix team are younger and completely focused on pandering to the 48th crowd, whist fobbing off the 72nd crew with token models and rehashing their od tools for minimum expense. A prime example being the 72nd Buccaneers, nice models, but cockpit left bare for after market, minimal weapons load, 48th kit full weapons load and fit for S2,S2C & S2D, crew ladders, detailed cocpit and intake and exhaust covers (which if you try to match in 72nd with aftermarket will cost more than the 48th kit.  Just look at the various 72nd subjects they have scaled up to 48th using the same CAD, but vitually none are scaled down from 48th to 72nd, weve been asking for the Jag and Javelin for years but just falls on death ears.

When the RN Phantom came out i think i have built four and have a dozen in stock, similar with RN Buccaneer, and bought a few of the RAF boxings of both kits, this year nothing i want to pre-order, the reissues i already have in the stash, and the only ones of genuine interest is the Artemis rocket and the Stalwart the latter possibly due to nostalgia for the 32nd toy they did in the 70s. hope on that same theme they do the Bedford RL, however notice the three Bedford trucks they are re-issuing this year have lost the Bedford title !!!.

I wish them luck, but my kit funds will be going elsewhere again this year, and it sounds like quite a few of us will be the same.

[The Wooksta!]

I don't have any kit funds right now, well, not much anyway, and what little I have certainly wouldn't be going to Airfix, not with this lacklustre collection of tat - because that's what the 72nd releases are - and definitely not if a proportion is ending in the pockets of wockney canker Mike Ashley.  The sooner that vile excuse for a human ceases breathing, the better.

[Beermonster58]

The problem is we traditional 72nd modellers are older and too polite, the 48th modellers are more vocal on-line either asking or demanding everything should be 48th if announced in 72nd. Most of the model mags focus on super detailed 48th builds these days and the stock modellers tend to have scaled up to 48th.

I'm like many of you 72nd mostly (i also do 1/700) and i hsve no interest in switching to 48th, i dont have the space, the money or even like the scale that much as it feels oversized to me.

The current Airfix team are younger and completely focused on pandering to the 48th crowd, whist fobbing off the 72nd crew with token models and rehashing their od tools for minimum expense. A prime example being the 72nd Buccaneers, nice models, but cockpit left bare for after market, minimal weapons load, 48th kit full weapons load and fit for S2,S2C & S2D, crew ladders, detailed cocpit and intake and exhaust covers (which if you try to match in 72nd with aftermarket will cost more than the 48th kit.  Just look at the various 72nd subjects they have scaled up to 48th using the same CAD, but vitually none are scaled down from 48th to 72nd, weve been asking for the Jag and Javelin for years but just falls on death ears.

When the RN Phantom came out i think i have built four and have a dozen in stock, similar with RN Buccaneer, and bought a few of the RAF boxings of both kits, this year nothing i want to pre-order, the reissues i already have in the stash, and the only ones of genuine interest is the Artemis rocket and the Stalwart the latter possibly due to nostalgia for the 32nd toy they did in the 70s. hope on that same theme they do the Bedford RL, however notice the three Bedford trucks they are re-issuing this year have lost the Bedford title !!!.

I wish them luck, but my kit funds will be going elsewhere again this year, and it sounds like quite a few of us will be the same.

  More or less echoes my own feelings.  I have nothing against larger scales per se, its just that I think 1/72 is the most PRACTICAL scale , even for very large aircraft. Add to which they are often substantially cheaper, with lower parts count, simpler assembly  and much more potential for multiple purchases. As an aside, I find the "too many small parts " argument as a reason for preferring 1/48 etc a bit silly because , there's surely a lot more scope for stupidly small parts in a model at larger scale?

I won't be switching just because Airfix bean counters are intent on favouring the 1/48 mafia. I haven't bought a new Airfix kit for four years. The last being the Vulcan in 2020.  Out of the rehashed kits, I already have all I need. Airfix just don't listen. At least, not if it's something they don't want to hear. And, they certainly don't want to hear anybody quite legitimately raising concerns about their blatant attempts to push modellers to larger scales.

All of my custom will go elsewhere this year. I have no particular brand loyalty to Airfix. Indeed, why should I have when they are doing nothing (from my perspective anyway) to earn or retain it.

[Old Wombat]

I build in 1/24-1/25(cars), 1/35 (AFV's, other vehicles, & some helicopters), 1/32 (cars, usually for scale-o-ramaing into 1/35)), 1/48 (aircraft - fighters, fighter-bombers, some twin engined bombers, & some support vehicles), 1/72 (twin-engined bombers & larger, & some support vehicles) & 1/350 (ships, AFVs, other vehicles, & aircraft).

I wish they'd make a significantly broad(er) range of (especially British) WW1, inter-war, WW2, & post-WW2 aircraft (especially naval aircraft) in 1/350.


BTW, pre-ordered 2 x Stollys direct from Airfix.

[Weaver]

Airfix's 2025 Club offer just dropped (my renewal was last week, so I'm always a year behind: that's why it was cheap last year).

The club exclusive model is an Me 410A3 in two new schemes, one German and one captured by the British and flown in the "Rafwaffe".

https://uk.airfix.com/community/airfix-club

[Mossie]

Are they both the same aircraft? That's a theme that Airfix have been doing a fair bit recently, showcasing a single airframe but in different schemes through its life.

[Weaver]

Are they both the same aircraft? That's a theme that Airfix have been doing a fair bit recently, showcasing a single airframe but in different schemes through its life.

Can't tell. There isn't a big enough pic of the box top on the website to let you read the text.