nicholasj Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 Just wondering if there is any way of finding out if a kit is made from a new tooling ot something a lot older with issues some older kits have.i ask as often I read that a kits is re boxed or now back in stock......either of these could still be the original old kit?Whilst no kit is perfect, as a newbie, I'd want kits with better fitting parts so would avoi old kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad Paul B Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 Britmodeller run a timeline of various kits. Try searching for review and the kit. Most of the current Airfix range is relatively recent toolings. This year the older kits started being released in the Vintage Classics range which include tooling dates. The exceptions I am aware of are The Martin Marauder (1970s - kits of this era were pretty good on the whole), Apollo kits (1969) although the Saturn V got so updated tooling in the 70s but these were pretty good anyway.The Car starter sets are 1960s and the Hawk, Lightning, Eurofighter and Tucano were 1990s while the realeases of the Tornado, F-15,16 and 18 are 1980s.The Mk I/II and XIX Spitfires are fairly new but the others are various periods. Jeremy Brooks' book 60 years of Airfix models covers up to 2015. You can still find Red Boxed versions of the Halifax which dates to 1960. Amazing for its time but due for retirement.Feel free to ask about specific kits on the forum as you will find someone to offer advice on particular kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabhand Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 nicolasj! when kits were sold by 'modelshops', owners didn't mind your opening the box to have a look. Those days, sadly, are gone! The Airfix catalogue indicates when kits are 'new' or 'reintroductions'. But otherwise, unless you've been buying for some time, it isn't always obvious to spot an 'oldie'. In addition to the suggestion made in the previous response, my I suggest 'scalemates' on online kit catalogue. It shows the history of a kit from first appearance to most recent/current issue. Older kits may be spotted easily even where modern reboxes and reissues have been made. Some older kits do enable you to develop your skillset, especially where the fit isn't great or if you want to improve the look. Some Airfix kits from the mid/late 1970s belong in the 'older kit' list, but they can often assemble very well eg the MRCA (Tornado prototype), Hawk, Skyray, Viking, and these are available at reasonable prices on internet auction sites.As an observation, I've always found Monogram kits to fit well inspite of some dating from the late 1970's. Revell do reissue older kits fairly regularly but generally these are the better ones. With Airfix having increased their quality standards, the older re-issues (clearly indicated by way of the catalogue - see above) are generally good eg the Marauder kit which goes together very well although it does feature raised panel lines. So, use the most recent Airfix Catalogue fo spot which issues that year are to be 'new' or 'reintroductions' and as a general guide the 'scalemates' website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholasj Posted August 4, 2019 Author Share Posted August 4, 2019 Thank you Dad Paul B. I'm building up for the Spitfire Mkla starter kit, good for my first? It's in my basket!Birthday coming up soon and I'll have a list of modelling tools, paints and general modelling needs to get me going to start off. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholasj Posted August 4, 2019 Author Share Posted August 4, 2019 nicolasj! when kits were sold by 'modelshops', owners didn't mind your opening the box to have a look. Those days, sadly, are gone! The Airfix catalogue indicates when kits are 'new' or 'reintroductions'. But otherwise, unless you've been buying for some time, it isn't always obvious to spot an 'oldie'. In addition to the suggestion made in the previous response, my I suggest 'scalemates' on online kit catalogue. It shows the history of a kit from first appearance to most recent/current issue. Older kits may be spotted easily even where modern reboxes and reissues have been made. Some older kits do enable you to develop your skillset, especially where the fit isn't great or if you want to improve the look. Some Airfix kits from the mid/late 1970s belong in the 'older kit' list, but they can often assemble very well eg the MRCA (Tornado prototype), Hawk, Skyray, Viking, and these are available at reasonable prices on internet auction sites.As an observation, I've always found Monogram kits to fit well inspite of some dating from the late 1970's. Revell do reissue older kits fairly regularly but generally these are the better ones. With Airfix having increased their quality standards, the older re-issues (clearly indicated by way of the catalogue - see above) are generally good eg the Marauder kit which goes together very well although it does feature raised panel lines. So, use the most recent Airfix Catalogue fo spot which issues that year are to be 'new' or 'reintroductions' and as a general guide the 'scalemates' website.Cheers, thank you for all the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 Britmodeller run a timeline of various kits. Really! Where's that?The Airfix Tribute Forum has a full history of each Airfix kit (Scalemates aren't 100% reliable)https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/airfixtributeforum/the-history-of-airfix-f432/Kits are best found using the product code as the search criteria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenneth ONeill Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 Airfix's "Eurofighter Typhoon" isn't: What it is is a good model of an EFA Development Artifact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweezers Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 I think some confusion is setting in here, so best if I provide a link to scalmates that has the time-line and this is an example of the Airfix Bf 109g-6 the second Airfix kit I had that refused to even glide. Oh happy memorieshttps://www.scalemates.com/kits/airfix-86-me-bf-109g-6--130419 As for old versus new Airfix, as long as Airfix continue with locating pins and notches so that bits cannot be stuck on incorrectly, then it's not untill you get into the relms of accuracy do you need to worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2B Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 Just to add my opinion, wanted or not. I regularly use Scalemates as I find it consistently accurate, I also find it easy to navigate unlike some of the other mentioned sites! Also if you scroll further down the kit page in question you can often find links to build reveiws which I regularly use if considering purchasing a kit from a company I'm not familiar with!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peebeep Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 Just to add my opinion, wanted or not. I regularly use Scalemates as I find it consistently accurate, I also find it easy to navigate unlike some of the other mentioned sites! Also if you scroll further down the kit page in question you can often find links to build reveiws which I regularly use if considering purchasing a kit from a company I'm not familiar with!! ^^^This. Scalemates is not 100% accurate, but you have to cut them some slack on the sheer amount of data they're processing. Plus it's like Wiki, if you find an error and alert them it is usually fixed within a short time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2B Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 Like I said I find the site consistently accurate, I cannot think of an incident in which following a search I was provided with incorrect data! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 Like I said I find the site consistently accurate, I cannot think of an incident in which following a search I was provided with incorrect data!If you don't know the incorrect data or omissions you won't know where Scalemates get it wrong. I can assure you that all the information about Airfix products in the ATF History of Airfix Kits is accurate. You should compare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 This is the Airfix kit reissued in a Heller boxhttps://www.scalemates.com/kits/heller-80332-sa-330-puma--122144but no link on Scalemates - and there are plenty more.When Scalemates don't have the artwork they ignore the release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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