Russ1707821018
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Posts posted by Russ1707821018
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I paid £8.33 for the ROW club and £12.50 for the Red Box (because no VAT in the US). Shipping to the US is a flat £30 until you exceed £200 so it pays to add more items to the Red Box order to reduce the effective cost of shipping.
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Nice job Airfix on the bundle for the K2Y release with the pint glass. It would have been nice if you had just upgraded all the people who pre-ordered before the bundle to the bundle package as a thank you for committing early. In the event, I canceled my original pre-order and re-ordered the bundle with the glass.
Now you need to partner with a brewery for an Airfix K2Y beer, although I’d be unlikely to be able to get it in the US.
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To get free shipping to the USA you have to spend £200 otherwise the shipping cost is £30. That said, the US has no import duties or VAT and you don’t pay UK VAT so £200 spent actually gets you £240 worth of stuff at UK retail prices. It definitely pays to make fewer large orders than lots of small ones.
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With few exceptions, like the Airfix Southern Cross liner kit, the Airfix ship kits are not particularly rare having had multiple reissues over the years. The Southern Cross is valuable because it was a limited run promotional item for the company that owned the real ship. A kit in mint condition would probably sell for a few hundred pounds.
The Airfix 1/600 SS France kit is maybe the next most valuable at £100-£200 on eBay because the tooling is lost and the kit cannot be produced again. Next would be the 1/600 MV Free Enterprise II. The original release of this kit was quite limited and it was never re-released. We also know the moulds are missing. Typical eBay pricing on that is in the area of £100.
Depending on condition and box type I’d expect the other 1/600 ship kits to sell in the £10-£50 range and the large sailing ships in the £25-£75 range. You can find people listing them for a lot more, but won’t see many sold items outside those ranges.
I'm less familiar with the Revell, Renwall, Lindberg, Hawk, and Aurora ship ranges but there are some that can sell for £100+.
The best thing to do is look at SOLD items on eBay, not listings, if you want to get an idea of current value and don’t be surprised if an item sells for much less than expected. Less frequently, things will sell for well-over expectations if you get two motivated bidders.
The bottom line is his collection is probably not worth life-changing money.
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This is all very strange. I just received a Vintage Classics SM.79 that was missing the clear parts. The bag for the clear parts was there but was slit down the side and was empty. I contacted Airfix spares support and they sent the missing parts free of charge within 48 hours. And I’m in the US.
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All the 1/35 armour kits in the catalogue have a five digit code that looks like A13**. On the basis of price, they are in the same range as Series 6 to Series 9 aircraft. Is there guidance on how many flying hours are needed to get one of these A13** kits, or are they just unavailable under the flying hours program, which seems a bit unfair to people who primarily build armour. Come on Airfix! If you want to get the interest of people who build vehicles then having a club that only caters to aircraft modelers seems like a bad way to go about it.
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It's chalk and cheese now, although the early efforts after Hornby took over were hit and miss. Looking back, this was understandable in that they inherited a tired old catalogue due to the failure of Humbrol to invest in new tooling, especially toward the end of their tenure. Airfix under Hornby had to generate new products and rapidly. Nowadays when a new kit is issued you can buy with confidence, although I wish they'd get the QC sorted at the factory in India.
There were a few clunkers in those first Hornby released kits: 1/72 Hurricane Mk.II, 1/72 Bf 109G-6, 1/72 Mig-15, 1/72 Canberras (although I think they were designed under the previous regime).
The Canberras can be made into something passable with a little effort. The others, the basic shapes are so inaccurate there's not much you can do with them other than make them look cosmetically more accurate.
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The nose, forward of the windshield, is different between the NF.10 and T.11 and the tail fins are different as well. The hardest part of making an T.11 into an NF.10 is going to be the cockpit canopy. There is a lot more framing on the NF.10 and only the top part opens. The whole thing looks shorter too.
In the cockpit, the NF.10 did not have ejection seats, hence the shorter canopy and smaller canopy opening. The only 1/72 NF.10 kit I can even find is the Czech Master Resin kit. But if you had one of those you wouldn't be converting the Airfix kit.
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AZModel announced a new kit of the Fairey Delta II in 1/48th for release at Telford in 2017.
The kit has been delayed repeatedly since then but is reportedly still in the works, maybe it will be scheduled for release this year.
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I don't see a need for a new 1/72 P-38J/L, that has been covered quite nicely, but as you say, the best kits of the D thru H variants are short run and need some effort to build.
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Btw I checked scalemates.
Scalemates don't get everything right. I reckon they're guessing. Why would Airfix use an old mould when they replaced the tooling not so long back?
I can't fault that logic.... the other 3 in the series won't be new tool kits though. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Certainly the Top Gun one I had was badly worn out.
BTW I found an almost identical Testors Top Gun A4 on Ebay (found, I didn't buy). Thats got the E model hump which the real film ones don't...... it was worryingly cheap too.
The Testors kit is a rebox of the Italeri A-4E. Not bad, but the slats are molded with the wing in the retracted position.
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the other 3 in the series won't be new tool kits though. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
We know by the catalogue that they will be the old tools
That's a shame and a missed opportunity since these kits are more likely to be bought by casual modelers or non-modeler fans of the films. The old Airfix F-14 was okay in its day, but it does not bear comparison to the recently released kits from Fine Molds and Academy. Airfix could have just bought bagged shots from Academy, thrown in new instructions and Top Gun decals and it would be a winner. Same with the F/A-18E. I can't help but think this is a step backwards; they don't even come with the Vintage Classics logo.
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Airfix really should do new Bf 109G kits in 1/72 and 1/48 (and 1/24). There is an almost endless variety of colour schemes so that there is always scope for new boxings with different marking options. I get that the current kit sells to people who are particularly concerned about exacting accuracy (as did the old kit) but there's a huge and enthusiastic market for accurate 109G kits. Of those available, only FineMolds and Tamiya are really up to modern standards.
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Another change in the Va from the IIa (and the Mk.Is for that matter) was the installation of metal-skinned versus fabric covered ailerons. I believe this helped reduce stick forces on the roll axis at high speed. The Airfix kit has the earlier fabric covered ailerons so it cannot actually be built as an accurate Va straight out of the box. That said, most people are not familiar with the nuances of different Spitfire marks and probably won't notice. Weirdly, the newish Revell kit, which has been released as a II and a Va, has the metal covered ailerons so it cannot be built as an accurate Mk.II (it also has problems that the Airfix kit doesn't).
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C'mon it's not bad. Terrible around the cockpit area, one needs to scratch build a plate then there is no instrument panel, no pilot's head protector. These omissions are made up for by the addition of under wing armament of cannon and morters. These being omitted from expensive inports that some might say they have gone overboard with cockpit detail.
It's really bad! Try comparing it to the Fine Molds G-6, long the gold standard of Bf 109 kits, or to the recent Tamiya kit. There are just no shapes on it that are accurate.
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It's not even an accurate G-6 to be honest. But you can call it whatever you want, even "Steve."
It's an oddball, it looks like they laser scanned the original G-6 kit then gave it a bit of a makeover. It even retains the curious saddle shaped continuous cannon bulge that should actually be separate shapes as per the original kit. At the very least I would remove this and replace with more appropriate bulges. If you've ever built an AZ Models late G, or one of the KP Avia S199 kits then you will have left over bulges that could be used. Use the later type canopy and you can call it an early G14, although I think they were mostly fitted with the tall wooden fin/rudder. G-14s are difficult to pin down, it was a sub-type that attempted to rationalise various modifications to the G-6 series, but was never really successful in this.
There were several attempts to standardise Bf 109 production of which the G-14 was the first, followed by the G-10, which failed because every factory making them introduced their own changes, and then finally the K.
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Btw I checked scalemates. They say the top gun is a rebox of Airfix 1960s D model. Which is the original top gun kit.... My other cynical thought is how much do Miramax get per Airfix kit sold? that "top gun" logo won't come free....
on a slight tangent I'm not impressed with the dogfight double A4/mig 17 pairing.. The only A4 to down a mig 17 was a C with zuni rockets. Happy to be proven wrong but why do I think the A4 will be a B with 2x 500lb bombs? The real enemy of the mig 17 was the F8 crusader... Not well represented in 1/72 (at least not at A4 price) I've picked up a vintage hasegawa on eBay (decent kit for its age but decals were yellow and cost the same again from hannants) but Airfix could do waaaay better. That's a hint Airfix! I've got another A4b in the stash and enough zuni rockets to refight Vietnam so I might see what I can DIY.
The Academy 1/72 F-8 Crusader is really good; much better than the old, old Hasegawa kit or the Heller kit.
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I hope that VMA131 is correct and Airfix's reboxing a Fujimi kit. By the way, the new Hobby Boss A-4E kit in 1/72 has by my count 116 parts, Hmmmm 😆
Although I think Ratch is correct in saying that from a commercial standpoint an A-4 is an A-4, and they'll use what they've got. Just please not the 1958 A-4A that they used for the original Top Gun model kit, THAT would be very embarrassing.
Regards all 😆
FAA 😎 😎
I wouldn't be upset if Airfix decided to rebox the Hobby Boss A-4E for this. It doesn't have separate LE slats, which are usually seen deployed on the ground as they are airload operated. On the other hand, I would happily make the argument that the agressor aircraft pinned their slats in the up position, as the Blue Angels did, to avoid asymmetric deployment during a critical phase of flight. It would also be an excellent opportunity to acquire one of these kits cheaply.
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Scalemates don't get everything right. I reckon they're guessing. Why would Airfix use an old mould when they replaced the tooling not so long back?
I concur with this. I'm sceptical that there's any mileage left in the old tooling. I can't see any point in debating it, Airfix might spill the beans or we might have to wait until the kits arrive.
Either way, unless it's a licenced use of an Imijuf tool, or a brand new kit (except wings and horizontal tail from the B/P) it's not an accurate E/F.
I think Airfix must have been planning to do the later E/F or M versions when they designed the Skyhawk kit because it has holes in the lower wing for the outboard pylons. These weren't introduced until the A-4E along with the 8,400 lbf thrust Pratt & Whitney J52-P-6A, The early Fs had even more power and the late Fs (Super Foxes) and M's had 11,200 lbf thrust PW J52-P-408s.
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The original trade relationship that propelled Airfix into a phenomenon was with Woolworths if my memory serves me right. Airfix have been doing this a really long time,
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As well as the Academy there's the old Matchbox/Revell and the much more recent Cyber Hobby (Dragon) kits. The CH kit is currently listed on Hannant's (as an A-25 Shrike), but the thirty quid RRP is likely to put a lot of people off.
The Academy kit is really nice and quite easy to build, the Dragon kit has the option of building with folded wings IIRC and it includes photo-etch parts. The Matchbox and Airfix kits would certainly take a lot of effort and scratch-building to bring up to the standard of either of the newer kits, but that really shouldn't be a surprise given how long ago they were tooled.
It's a bit unfair to give the current incarnation of Airfix grief over this kit when they had no role in developing it.
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In no particular order of preference:
1/72 Sea Vixen
1/72 & 1/48 DH Venom and Sea Venom
1/48 DH Vampire (F.1 through FB.9)
1/72 Arado Ar 234
1/72 Dornier Do 335
1/72 Boeing B-29/Washington I
1/72 Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle
1/72 Hawker Tempest II/IV/V/VI
1/72 & 1/48 Westland Whirlwind Mk.I
1/72 F-84F Thunderstreak
1/24 Boulton-Paul Defiant
1/24 Me 262
1/24 EE Lightning
1/72 P-38E/F/G/H
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There are really no good kits of the variants of the Yak-9 (16,759 built), whereas there are good kits of the Yak-1 and okay kits of the Yak-3. I'd prefer Airfix tool up a Yak-9 if they are interested in going in this direction.
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It's not even an accurate G-6 to be honest. But you can call it whatever you want, even "Steve."
Airfix want the customer to pay for their poor quality control
in General Discussion
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Perhaps, but my kit was purchased from Amazon.