Airfix

[Dizzyfugu]

The 1/72 Nakajima Kate is now out and in stock at Hannants

A new F4F-4, too? Saw a full size ad with pics of both in the current Hobby Japan magazine - the B5N looks really good, esp. with its separate wing parts for folded position!

[Weaver]

Aye but they have been able to do the Whitley from Engineering drawings as little remains of an actual aircraft !

Indeed, and that makes it harder for anyone to criticise the model since few people have access to equivalent data.

However you need to remember this lecture is aimed at those suggestions for mainstream items that are not possible to scan or study the drawings for. They get a lot of suggestions and some of them are just not viable and they effectively are telling us what's currently within their capability or not.
Part of the problem is with limited reference material or accurate scans/measuring the designers have to go with guess work or what they feel is right and we have seen the net result of this from many of the Chinese kits where they effectively wing it and then get lambasted for getting it wrong as they don't have the access to the actual hardware some in the west can have.

Hang on a minute though: Airfix ARE in the West and seem to be really good at forging productive, respectful relationships with museums and archives. My point is that surely the standard for excellence should be to base the model on the best available evidence, not set some arbitary fixed bar for the quality of the evidence and then refuse to consider anything that doesn't meet it. If the best available evidence for an unbuilt project or long lost prototype is a GA drawing, and they base it on that, then on what grounds are people going to criticise? It's the quality of the research effort, not the quality of what they turn up, that matters.

Trumpter et al havn't been criticised for getting things wrong where little or no information exists, they've been criticised for getting it wrong where good information DOES exist and is easy to get at, and they've got it spectacularly wrong regardless. If I can see that Trumpeter's Lightning's the wrong shape by looking at pictures on the web, why can't they do that? The Black Label "X-tanks" have been criticised because good information was available and they ignored it: some of the mistakes don't even meet the standard of simple common sense, for instance the M-103 turret doesn't physically fit and turn on the hull! They don't get criticised for their Paper Panzer projects though, even though they might be theoretically just as "innacurate", because everybody knows perfectly well that these things only existed as preliminary drawings, many of which are now lost forever.

As for project stuff it all depends on what data is available and how well known the projects are, the MB5 is fairly well known and has decent drawings as MB are still in business so a kits possible if demand is high enough. However the MB5 was built and flown, I suspect a type would have to get as far as prototype or mock up to be considered as long as the drawings are suitable. The other limiting factor is that whilst many did or still do clamour for anything Secret & Nazis, the equivalent British or American designs just don't have the same sort of interest unfortunately and that would probably prevent many Project suggestions getting commercial approval to develop into a kit.  

That's kind of a chicken and egg situation though isn't it? How many people would take more of an interest in British X-planes if there were actually mainstream, easy-to-build, easily available kits of them? How many people who bought a Revell Luft '46 model had never even heard of the type until they saw the box? The British Secret Projects books have sold very well: surely that demonstrates that an interest is there to be fed.

Actually, that might be a good marketing move: do a tie-up with the publisher to use the "British Secret Projects" branding on the kit boxes and re-release the relevant book at the same time. They could even combine them as a gift set: paperback edition of the book, one or two kits and various goodies all in one presentation box.

[zenrat]

If they are so proud of their new found accuracy then how about putting something on the box top to tell the prospective buyer?
Something like a small information box in the corner saying "produced from scans of 1:1 plane",  "produced from factory drawings" or "same ancient moulds we've been repopping for years".
Actually, just the date the thing was first made would help.

Does this statement apply to other subjects like tanks, ships, figures & cars?  Can we expect to see them setting up to scan HMS Belfast for a new kit?

[Thorvic]

If they are so proud of their new found accuracy then how about putting something on the box top to tell the prospective buyer?
Something like a small information box in the corner saying "produced from scans of 1:1 plane",  "produced from factory drawings" or "same ancient moulds we've been repopping for years".
Actually, just the date the thing was first made would help.

Does this statement apply to other subjects like tanks, ships, figures & cars?  Can we expect to see them setting up to scan HMS Belfast for a new kit?

I doubt it as the box art is to designed to appeal to the shopper where they look at the box art and see the CGI on the sides. They will however either mention or credit their sources where appropriate in either the instructions or the summary of the kit as the Vampire thanked the team who let them use the real aircraft to measure, the same goes for the He-111 and probably for the Shackleton. I suspect the B-17G will thank the Smithsonian too as Airfix do have a good relationship with them.

[Captain Canada]

Good call re: what to expect Thor. I'm sure the Luftwaffe supply set would be a welcome addition and breed some neat dios.

[jcf]

The Secret Projects books have sold well to a very small audience. I found this out when I decided to unload
mine last year, with the exception of the BSP:1935-1950 volume.

I offered the three other BSP and the pairs of American and Soviet project volumes to the local model clubs (IPMS-Seattle and NWSM),
IPMS-Seattle alone has a club membership of over 100, via the club email lists at $25 a piece and got bupkus in interest. Steve Gallaci
ended up taking the Brit volumes because after looking them over at the IPMS meeting because he could see some potential projects,
and he already had the US and Soviet volumes.

With the crossover between the clubs over 150 modellers got the message, one person was interested. Others took a desultory look,
and the most telling part was when one of the members, a very good modeller with decades of experience and a retired late
'50s-mid '60s USAF jet-jock, commented on the US projects volumes "Boy, yer really into the weird stuff." 

The US and Soviet volumes languish in a box to this day.

Years ago, Paul Fisher told me he's long wanted to do a 1/48 SR.53 and other British experimentals, but knows that the market
simply isn't large enough to support the investment required to create and produce the kits.

[Captain Canada]

My LHS says NEW Airfix items coming in a shipment due next week ! Good thing Monday is a holiday so I can search the house for spare change !

[Martin H]

just in case any one wants to see what the new Whittley looks like OOB.




Started Monday(public holiday in most of the UK), main paint work Tuesday/Wednesday. decals and final assembly Thursday evening.

I could have done better, but its ok for what was a bit of a rush job. The reason why may become clear in the fullness of time 

[Captain Canada]

Holly Speedy Gonzalez ( or whomever is the European counterpart ) Batman ! And you even planted a Swift in there to really rub it in.

[Martin H]

ah yes the swift photobombed the whittley's moment in front of the digi cam

[Knightflyer]

Oh that is so VERY NICE  I want ONE .....or two

pssst ....anybody want to buy a couple of old Modelcraft Whitleys! 

[jcf]

pssst ....anybody want to buy a couple of old Modelcraft Whitleys! 

No. 

[Thorvic]

Oh very nice  , might it be club night at MAM this Friday by any chance ?

[Weaver]

Nice one Martin - I'd have taken that long thinking about it....

[Weaver]

The Secret Projects books have sold well to a very small audience. I found this out when I decided to unload mine last year, with the exception of the BSP:1935-1950 volume.

I offered the three other BSP and the pairs of American and Soviet project volumes to the local model clubs (IPMS-Seattle and NWSM), IPMS-Seattle alone has a club membership of over 100, via the club email lists at $25 a piece and got bupkus in interest. Steve Gallaci  ended up taking the Brit volumes because after looking them over at the IPMS meeting because he could see some potential projects, and he already had the US and Soviet volumes.

With the crossover between the clubs over 150 modellers got the message, one person was interested. Others took a desultory look, and the most telling part was when one of the members, a very good modeller with decades of experience and a retired late '50s-mid '60s USAF jet-jock, commented on the US projects volumes "Boy, yer really into the weird stuff." 

The US and Soviet volumes languish in a box to this day.

Years ago, Paul Fisher told me he's long wanted to do a 1/48 SR.53 and other British experimentals, but knows that the market simply isn't large enough to support the investment required to create and produce the kits.

Is that really a fair survey of the marketplace though?

1. How many of those people wern't interested because they already had the books?

2. How many of those people wern't interested because they subjects wern't American?

3. If there's so little interest in obscure stuff then how do you explain Revell's success with Luft'46 subjects?