Airfix Kitstarter

[The Wooksta!]

The Henschel Hs 123 wouldn't be a bad choice.  Nice little kit, that one.

[The Wooksta!]

Or that Daleks in Manhattan set.  Still kicking myself I didn't get a few when Modelzone had them kamikazied at little under a tenner.

[ennobee]

Didn't Airfix do some Space 1999 stuff?

Gondor

Yes, I recall building their 'Eagle transporter" when I was 10 or so... I believe this was in 1977.

Their catalog also showed the 'Hawk attack craft', which was basically an 'Eagle' with its mission pod replaced by a set of stub wings bristling with rockets. (probably 'salvaged' from an attack helicopter model) further down the same page of their catalog, they also had the 'Angel fighter' from Captain Scarlet.

  The Eagle Fighter served me quite dutyfully. However it was too small to carry my Playmobil space exploration team. So I had to build myself a bigger craft out of Lego.

[martinbayer]

Didn't Airfix do some Space 1999 stuff?

Gondor

Yes, I recall building their 'Eagle transporter" when I was 10 or so... I believe this was in 1977.

Their catalog also showed the 'Hawk attack craft', which was basically an 'Eagle' with its mission pod replaced by a set of stub wings bristling with rockets. (probably 'salvaged' from an attack helicopter model) further down the same page of their catalog, they also had the 'Angel fighter' from Captain Scarlet.

The differences were actually more pronounced than that, see for example http://culttvman.com/main/annette-bannaschs-space-1999-eagles/ and http://www.hobbyhoney.com/auctions/mod018-space-1999-eagle-and-hawk-spaceship-model-kits.

Martin

[Weaver]

They've just added the Anne Boleyn, Black Prince and Henry VIII models to the kitstarter.

[zenrat]

Methinks Airfix are trying to foster interest from people who wouldn't build a tank, plane or car.

[Weaver]

Methinks Airfix are trying to foster interest from people who wouldn't build a tank, plane or car.

Wonder what that demographic actually is and how you reach them? I can't help feeling that a lot of the people who might like these don't read the modelling magazines or check out the Airfix website much....

[zenrat]

As I believe I said earlier my mother has built both birds, Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII (and a damn fine job she made of them too).  I suspect that she didn't buy them herself but that my father picked them up while shopping for a present for me.
I wonder where they are now?  For years they were on display in the lounge room gathering dust.

[Weaver]

Which is kinda my point. I can see these selling to people, maybe including a greater proportion of women than modelling in general, who are craft-oriented, but who probably arn't into the more common forms of modelling. They might well pick these up if they saw them on a craft shop's shelves, but that's not going to happen with the kitstarter format, and since they're not the type to be nosing around on Airfix's website or reading modelling forums, how are they going to find out about them?

Basically, these are kits that sell to people who don't build kits: that's what they were designed for (certainly the birds at least) in the first place. Trying to sell them in a place and by a mechanism that's only going to be seen by keen kit-builders therefore seems a hiding to nothing to me. They need to be in a pretty box on a shelf in Hobbycraft where they can be noticed casually and picked up on impulse, not buried in an obscure corner of the internet where you've got to be keen enough to pledge £20 (which they're totally not worth) up front and then wait.

[KiwiZac]

I'm getting my fiancee into kits - she loves the Tiger Moth so I bought the new Airfix kit as "his and her's" future builds - by way of Pokemon snap kits. She's not really an aircraft fan so things like this might tickle her fancy. I was thinking about the bird kits just before this was announced. A great idea but, as many have said, surely to get Kitstarter started some of the "traditional" moulds would be better and maybe release the "oddball" kits anyway? I'm sure Hornby could find a way :-)

[Weaver]

According the Airfix forum admin, the top five most requested kits have been advised to management, but three of them can't be done:

1. Beagle Basset
2. SR-N1 hovercraft

3. SR.53 - Airfix no longer have the tooling
4. Fireball XL5 - Airfix no longer have the tooling
5. 1/48th Buccaneer - Unfixable quality problem with the fuselage moulds

From here: http://www.airfix.com/uk-en/forum/please-read-kitstarter-suggestions

[PR19_Kit]

I'd have thought it would have ben worth their while doing a new mould for the Bucc bits, They're always in demand.

But I DO hope they do the Basset and the SRN1. I never have done a Basset and it's a great looking aircraft. I built an SRN1 years ago but it was stolen from a show stand. 

[Dizzyfugu]

I'm getting my fiancee into kits - she loves the Tiger Moth so I bought the new Airfix kit as "his and her's" future builds - by way of Pokemon snap kits. She's not really an aircraft fan so things like this might tickle her fancy. I was thinking about the bird kits just before this was announced. A great idea but, as many have said, surely to get Kitstarter started some of the "traditional" moulds would be better and maybe release the "oddball" kits anyway? I'm sure Hornby could find a way :-)

Try Tiger Meet birds. A friend of mine tried this with his wife and got the subject so far that now a cabinet with kits is present in the living room... A Revell Gina worked wonders!

[KiwiZac]

Good idea, DF! I bought both boxings of the Tiger and she chose the civil one.

I had a look at the Galleries of completed figures, birds etc at the ATF and I'm coming around - the birds are neat little kits! Definitely something different to push one's skills.

[Weaver]

At last, some more sensible choices have appeared on the kitstarter project!

1/32nd 1930 4.5 litre Bentley

http://www.airfix.com/uk-en/kitstarter/kitstarter-1930-45-litre-bentley.html





1/32nd 1911 Rolls Royce

http://www.airfix.com/uk-en/kitstarter/kitstarter-1911-rolls-royce.html