Where have all the ships gone, Mr Airfix?

[Jonathan Mock]

The answer to which is, where are the Type 45 Destroyer and Trafalgar Class sub? New tooling in the "right" scale (1/350), the Type 45 was a "much requested item" and yet has been withdrawn just four years after it was released.If there was such an "untapped market" out there, they'd still be in production. They're not.Why are they not in the range any more?

Jon, Airfix seem to release product for 3-4 years then withdraw it (apart from the staple diet). This includes aircraft kits and appears to be their strategy. Its not a Ship thing, but consistent with the entire range.

 

But  - barring tool failure - no kit company withdraws a product unless..? ;-)

[Botan]

 

Jon, Airfix seem to release product for 3-4 years then withdraw it (apart from the staple diet). This includes aircraft kits and appears to be their strategy. Its not a Ship thing, but consistent with the entire range.

 

Revell seems to have the same strategy too.

[Richard Welling]

Yes, come on Airfix, make some more ships in 1/350 and 1/600 scale.

1/600 is such a nice scale to work with, I find 1/700 very annoying.

I believe there is demand for 1/600 full-hulled ships, the fact is, most of them issued have been sold.

There are plenty of modellers in the former British Commonwealth (eg Australia) who would build 1/600 ships if they were available and, for example, WW2 Australian ships are mostly variants of British WW2 designs.

Wht not produce some 1/600 aircraft, RN and RAN flags, decals, etc? Surely they wouldn't cost much to make? What about some smaller WW2 ships in 1/600 like destroyers, MTBs, landing craft, etc?

Pitt Road as an excellent range of such craft, but they are all in 1/700.

[William Morrison]

I love 1/600 ship model kits.  They are of large enough size in which to work comfortably, they are relatively inexpensive, and can be easily detailed.  I would love for Airfix to retool their kits to the same standards as their KGV and Repulse.

That said, I repeat my plea for more sailing ship kits, especially in the larger scale of 1/144.  Airfix once produced a range of small-scale ships that would make great models in larger scales. HMS Shannon immediately comes to mind.  It would be easy to come up with a list of sailing ships that certainly impacted British history that would probably sell well, especially if they were large enough to enjoy.

Many here "across the pond" were excited several years ago when Airfix released the Mary Rose. Unfortunately, the kit was far too simple and small. We would have preferred something more substantial.  Zvesda of Russia seems to be answering the call with new sailing ships, but Airfix kits were far more accurate and are of higher interest to many of us.  Zvesda apparently has determined that a market does exist, and I will support them in that endeavor.

[peebeep]

A 1/144 HMS Shannon would be spiffing, as would an HMS Warrior and an SS Great Britain. I would buy them, but Airfix have to be certain they can shift several thousand of each to make it worth while.

[John Symmons]

If Airfix have any doubt about a market fo nautical models, that must now surely be put to rest seeing that this discusion has gone on for 10 weeks & 6 pages. So come on Airfix the market IS there, please some hint or teaser pretty please or something from admin.

Remember we do this for fun    John the Pom

[Kenneth ONeill]

Personal wish list:-

1/72 scale RNLI Arun, Oakley and Waveney class lifeboats to go with the Severn. "Greedy Ken" says he'd also like full sets of names, pennants and station allocations for these as well.

1/350 scale Type 26 frigate (once design finalised) to go with the Type 45 destroyer. Then maybe a "Queen Elizabeth" class aircraft carrier to complete the battle group.

[RussellE]

If Airfix have any doubt about a market fo nautical models, that must now surely be put to rest seeing that this discusion has gone on for 10 weeks & 6 pages. So come on Airfix the market IS there, please some hint or teaser pretty please or something from admin.

Remember we do this for fun    John the Pom

I know, right? 😆 From one inncoent little question wondering where the ships had gone, to a healthy debate about whether or not ships are still a popular topic to model. Great to see!  😎

[jopres57]

Airfix produced some great ship kits back in the day; interesting subjects that could be built by beginners but big enough for further detailing. Ships, Aircraft, and the rest, I'm sure they would still be popular. The annoying thing about old Airfix kits is that they are obviously difficult to find and are fairly expensive if bought online. I think it would be a good idea if the Airfix team had a look on the internet auction sites and had at least a limited re-release of the most expensive kits; there's obviously a demand for them. This would help stop dedicated Airfix fans being taken advantage of. I like to rebuild some of the kits I remember from my younger days, as I'm sure others must do. The older models also had the advantage of being fairly easy to put together, especially by younger builders. The new releases today are excellent kits but I think are often too complicated for the average 8 - 10 year old, so the new enthusiasts the hobby needs will obviously be deterred at an impressionable age. Its disappointing to see the old kits being criticised sometimes on these forums because they can look quite good with a decent coat of paint and some good decals. Lets hope we can soon see HMS Victorious and the Rommel back with some new releases.

[nmcabecadas]

I would like to see a few small waterline boats in 1/72. There are ships who can be much cheaper if made as waterline, as submarines, and can provide a good centre for a diorama.

[Ratch]

 Maybe the Airfix strategy should be to treat 1/600 as the entry level, re-issuing selected kits on a regular basis while rotating the pool of kits and possibly re-tooling old reliable subjects with more acurate kits. 1/350 would become the greater skill level for advanced modellers. In 1/600 I'd like to see newly tooled Bismarck & Tirpitz kits and I wouldn't be surprised to see the new Queen Elizabeth class in 1/350. There are other 1/600 ships I'd like to see, but being realistic, it will be a long road to fully re-establish the genre given the lack of new toolings since the 1980s.

On the sailing ship front, I'm surprised that there hasn't been a Mary Rose in a larger scale yet. Airfix must have done some research when they made the 1/400 kit. I'd have thought a large scale kit would be an excellent addition to their Classic Ships range.

[William Morrison]

 Maybe the Airfix strategy should be to treat 1/600 as the entry level, re-issuing selected kits on a regular basis while rotating the pool of kits and possibly re-tooling old reliable subjects with more acurate kits. 1/350 would become the greater skill level for advanced modellers. In 1/600 I'd like to see newly tooled Bismarck & Tirpitz kits and I wouldn't be surprised to see the new Queen Elizabeth class in 1/350. There are other 1/600 ships I'd like to see, but being realistic, it will be a long road to fully re-establish the genre given the lack of new toolings since the 1980s.

On the sailing ship front, I'm surprised that there hasn't been a Mary Rose in a larger scale yet. Airfix must have done some research when they made the 1/400 kit. I'd have thought a large scale kit would be an excellent addition to their Classic Ships range.

I remember my excitement when the Mary Rose was first announced.  And, I remember being impressed with its overall detail when I first opened the box.  But, it is a very simplistic kit that I would have built when I first got started building models in 1960, when I was 6.  Unfortunately,  the Mary Rose kit is very underwhelming for an older, more experienced builder. I, and other ship modelers of my acquaintance, would have prefered a larger, more complex kit.

Concerning the Airfix line of 1/600 kits, their earlier models of, for example, HMS Suffolk, cannot compete with their later kits like their HMS King George V, HMS Repulse, and Prinz Eugen.  Their Bismarck and Tirpitz kits were based on immediate post-war information, and are woefully out of date. I would love for Airfix to retool their older ships, and add others to this line as well.

Gentlemen, I teach High School level history here in Connecticut.  I like to use models as visual aids and as a way to get kids hooked into taking the subject seriously.  Airfix kits are affordable, their line is extensive (in terms of tanks and airplanes), but is very deficient with ships. I would love to see this rectified.

[Simon Norton1707820138]

If Airfix have any doubt about a market fo nautical models, that must now surely be put to rest seeing that this discusion has gone on for 10 weeks & 6 pages. So come on Airfix the market IS there, please some hint or teaser pretty please or something from admin.

Remember we do this for fun    John the Pom

Much as I'd like to see the re-release of some of the 1:600 warships. There's only about half a dozen people on this thread who seem interested. 60 posts in 10 weeks isn't exactly indicative of massive interest.

[RussellE]

If Airfix have any doubt about a market fo nautical models, that must now surely be put to rest seeing that this discusion has gone on for 10 weeks & 6 pages. So come on Airfix the market IS there, please some hint or teaser pretty please or something from admin.

Remember we do this for fun    John the Pom

Much as I'd like to see the re-release of some of the 1:600 warships. There's only about half a dozen people on this thread who seem interested. 60 posts in 10 weeks isn't exactly indicative of massive interest.

I like what Ratch suggested: Keep the original 1/600 series and the original sailing ship series as "entry level/kitstarter" kits to encourage newbies/younglings into the hobby-done at minor expense since the tooling already exists. And then expanding the fledgeling 1/350 range and rebranding it as say, "advanced level" for the more experienced modellers. Currenlty consisting of the Type 45, Trafalgar class and the Illustrious class, careful selection of topics may include the new OPV's, QE CV's and the type 26/31. These are highly visible on the public radar (for good or bad)  whilst not directly competing in the same market segments far east model companies seem to be proliferating. 😀

[Kenneth ONeill]

If Airfix have any doubt about a market fo nautical models, that must now surely be put to rest seeing that this discusion has gone on for 10 weeks & 6 pages. So come on Airfix the market IS there, please some hint or teaser pretty please or something from admin.

Remember we do this for fun    John the Pom

Much as I'd like to see the re-release of some of the 1:600 warships. There's only about half a dozen people on this thread who seem interested. 60 posts in 10 weeks isn't exactly indicative of massive interest.

I see your point, but rather than number of posts, how many of the total active posters have expressed some sort of interest in warship models?

[William Morrison]

If Airfix have any doubt about a market fo nautical models, that must now surely be put to rest seeing that this discusion has gone on for 10 weeks & 6 pages. So come on Airfix the market IS there, please some hint or teaser pretty please or something from admin.

Remember we do this for fun    John the Pom

Much as I'd like to see the re-release of some of the 1:600 warships. There's only about half a dozen people on this thread who seem interested. 60 posts in 10 weeks isn't exactly indicative of massive interest.

I see your point, but rather than number of posts, how many of the total active posters have expressed some sort of interest in warship models?

The very fact that there are so many Far Eastern plastic modeling companies manufacturing ship models is a solid indication that a market exists!  When companies such as Zvesda, Revell of Germany, Revell USA, and various smaller companies also release products, one has to ask about why Airfix isn't in the mix.  RoG and Zvesda have also released new sailing ships, granted, at a snail's pace.  It just seems that Airfix could be more competitive and emulate these companies.

[John Irwing]

whilst we are in a global economy I get the impression that kit manufacturers produce what they know will sell closer to home and undertake market research to support the investment. 

The home market for Airfix is heavily based around military aircraft, forums and shows bear this out, America is heavily into cars, Europe possibly AFV's and in Asia a huge general demand for models of any genre  

Yes I would like to see more diversity from Airfix, but not at the expense of the Company, look at the Olympics debarcle in 2012 to see what can happen if you get it wrong. 

Economics dictate production as sure as function dictates form. Hopefully successful releases may enable more investment in areas where a lower return would be acceptable. Although I dare say the shareholders would need some convincing. 

[peebeep]

The very fact that there are so many Far Eastern plastic modeling companies manufacturing ship models is a solid indication that a market exists!  When companies such as Zvesda, Revell of Germany, Revell USA, and various smaller companies also release products, one has to ask about why Airfix isn't in the mix.  RoG and Zvesda have also released new sailing ships, granted, at a snail's pace.  It just seems that Airfix could be more competitive and emulate these companies.

The Far Eastern market is totally different to the rest of the world, for starters it's humongous. In Japan they have hobby shops as big as medium sized supermarkets stacked with plastic kits and there is demand for a whole range of genres. I know people will say why don't Airfix issue in multiple genres and compete in the far east? There's a whole bunch of reasons why they don't, but in a nutshell, it's very difficult. Also to issue kits in multiple genres you have to have a lot of R & D resources that I suspect Airfix simply don't have. They sell primarily in the areas that they know will guarantee profitability within the limits of the organisation that they are running, they play it safe and it's a strategy that works (check the best seller lists at Hannants each time Airfix issue new kits). I'd bet that Revell and Zvezda have much larger organisations with more resources available to develop all the different genres that they manufacture in.

[William Morrison]

The very fact that there are so many Far Eastern plastic modeling companies manufacturing ship models is a solid indication that a market exists!  When companies such as Zvesda, Revell of Germany, Revell USA, and various smaller companies also release products, one has to ask about why Airfix isn't in the mix.  RoG and Zvesda have also released new sailing ships, granted, at a snail's pace.  It just seems that Airfix could be more competitive and emulate these companies.

The Far Eastern market is totally different to the rest of the world, for starters it's humongous. In Japan they have hobby shops as big as medium sized supermarkets stacked with plastic kits and there is demand for a whole range of genres. I know people will say why don't Airfix issue in multiple genres and compete in the far east? There's a whole bunch of reasons why they don't, but in a nutshell, it's very difficult. Also to issue kits in multiple genres you have to have a lot of R & D resources that I suspect Airfix simply don't have. They sell primarily in the areas that they know will guarantee profitability within the limits of the organisation that they are running, they play it safe and it's a strategy that works (check the best seller lists at Hannants each time Airfix issue new kits). I'd bet that Revell and Zvezda have much larger organisations with more resources available to develop all the different genres that they manufacture in.

Granted.  But those companies producing to a global market are thriving by constantly improving upon their older catalogs.  Unfortunately, Airfix has gone through some serious economic times by focusing on the local market. By extension, so, too, has Heller.

Capitalism thrives when there is a constant flow of a wide variety of new products. Companies that narrow their products to appeal to a narrow focus of their customer base tend not to fair very well. By focusing only on one or two types of models, Airfix is dooming itself to uncompetitiveness and low profits. 

I am asking Airfix to thrive once again by capitalizing on the UK's rich naval and maritime history, not deny it by focusing only on airplanes and tanks.  Entice a new customer base in a wider market.  Remember, businesses don't grow by simply playing it safe.  It takes money to make money; it takes risk as well.

[peebeep]

It's my understanding that the Japanese manufacturers (especially) are almost entirely focused on their home market, the Chinese to a lesser extent, because the market is so huge and they've no real interest in exporting. I know one trader who would love to bring in Japanese products to sell here, but even if he can get a deal they will mostly expect to ship a complete container, which is out of his ball park.

[Kenneth ONeill]

I see wher these arguments are coming from, but I'm actually less likely to buy, say, yet another mark of 1/48th scale "well known WW2 fighter" that's well represented in its main variants than, say, different Grummans with a sensible folded wing option (The Airfix 1/72scale Wildcat and Martlet exemplify what I mean here, since AFAIK they're about the only 2 kits (and yes I know they're mostly the same tools) that have the characteristic Grumman wing fold without a lot of cutting and scratch building structure).

[Ratch]

 I bet they don't float well either.

[William Morrison]

 I bet they don't float well either.

This is my point.  I can't tell you how often we ship modelers have been burned by reading the "New Kit" sections of the various modeling magazines only to discover that the new model we had been hearing about is yet another Bismarck, Missouri, Yamato, Victory, Cutty Sark, or Constitution.  We have those ships! Why would we need another? 

This must be true in any other genre of modeling.  How many new Spitfires, Corsairs, Hellcats, Bf 109s do you need?  Let's see new and different products!

I already own every Airfix sailing ship kit.  I do not need a re-release of a kit I already own.  To expect to see my business, you, the manufacturer, need to satisfy my needs.  It's that simple.  To offer the same tired products over a 60 year history of being in business, you are going to see sales decline.  The only way to remain competitive is to offer new and fresh products. I will not purchase a model I already own just so your profits keep coming in.  Give me something new. 

[Jonathan Mock]

 I bet they don't float well either.

This is my point.  I can't tell you how often we ship modelers have been burned by reading the "New Kit" sections of the various modeling magazines only to discover that the new model we had been hearing about is yet another Bismarck, Missouri, Yamato, Victory, Cutty Sark, or Constitution.  We have those ships! Why would we need another? Give me something new. 

Who is the "we"?

 

The thing is, because it's not new to you, doesn't mean it's not new to someone else. The reason why kit companies recycle the same subjects is not only because they sell but there is - in my personal opinion - a higher turnover from the casual market than there is from modellers who say "got that, what's next?".

 

 

 

 

 

[Comet4]

You can make any of the ship models float, just add some ballast to the keel line inside and they'll float nicely.