1/76th future

[Stugbit]

I personally really really really hope that the 1/76 scale doesn't end. I just can't deal with 1/72... 

Not only because of wargaming, but they don't feel good for me. They don't feel good at all. The 1/76 are much better. The Airfix ones are perfect for imagination, scratchbuilding, etc.

I don't want a superdetailed thing... I just want a piece of impressionism in my hands. The emotions and the mistakes in the eyes that the distance of a tiny model can pass to us. 

 

I spend a lot of time looking for those models to complete a group in my collection and for wargamings as well, some specific ones are very hard to find, in plastic at least.

Please Airfix! Don't finish your 1/76 catalogue!! I beg you...  

[Simon Norton1707820138]

I dug my collection of WW2 AFVs out of the loft at the weekend, I was surprised how few Airfix AFV kits I'd actually built - a Tiger, Sherman, armoured car, Stug III and Churchill and 2 Pz IVs plus the 6pdr, 25pdr, 88mm and Pak 40 guns and associated tractors. The majority were Matchbox (1/76) and Esci (1/72). I built all the Matchbox AFV kits, apart from the Churchill bridge layer, in most cases I built 2 or 3 because I was in to wargaming. I had a quick comparison of the sizes between 1/72 and 1/76.

Pz III - Matchbox and Esci were almost identical.

Panther - Hasegawa [1/72] and Matchbox - Hasegawa was slightly larger but it wasn't that noticeable.

Elefant - Esci and Airfix polythene  - huge difference as Airfix one is massively underscale.

25pdr - Esci and Airfix - again a noticeable differance.

I also had a look at my cold war era AFVs and there was a noticeable difference between the 1/76 [Airfix, Matchbox, CMSC, SMS and Cromwell] and the 1/72 [Esci, ACE, Revell and others]. The most noticeable was the Cromwell miniatures and Matchbox/Revell T-80 but only because the Matchbox offerring is about 1/67 scale when you measure it. the least noticeable were the Esci and Airfix M113's which identical in length but the Esci kits were noticeably wider.

Finally, having had a look at the  kit manufacturers websites there are a dearth of small scale AFVs. Only Dragon, Trumpeter and the Ukrainian manufacturers seem to have anything new in their ranges. The Revell range is very disappointing both the Matchbox reissues and a lot of their own kits seem to be out of production.  

 

 

 

[Sgt.Squarehead]

 Trust me, there are plenty of 1/72 manufacturers out there and new subjects are appearing all the time.....Knock yourself out: 

http://henk.fox3000.com/index2.htm

 

 

[Simon Norton1707820138]

 Trust me, there are plenty of 1/72 manufacturers out there and new subjects are appearing all the time.....Knock yourself out: 

http://henk.fox3000.com/index2.htm

 

 

Very interesting website but a lot of the manufacturers on there produce resin kits and a lot of the Injection kit manufacturers are either defunct [JB, Lindberg,Matchbox, Nitto etc] don't produce AFVs  [Hobbyboss, Dapol] or produce short run kits [Ace and Ukranian/Russian] reboxings.

Of the major manufacturers of plastic injection mould kits only Trumpeter and Dragon appear to have extensive ranges. Revell only have 21 1/72 military vehicles in their catalogue this year. Hasegawa have 35 which is about half their range. Airfix had about 18 last time I counted, again about half the range. Apart from the Revell kits, none of these are in the first flush of youth.

Good news is that Italeri seem to have reintroduced a lot of the old Esci kits in their new catalogue.

If you after WW2 subjects, hunt around and don't mind if a vehicle is resin or plastic then you can get waht you want in either 1/76 or 1/72.

If, like me, you focus on Modern AFVs and specifically the more obscure Soviet and Russian kit  then you are stuck with 1/72. To go with all the obscure British Army kit which only comes in 1/76 😢

[Stugbit]

@drtemplar

 

You were right about some 1/72 seemed to be like 1/76 scale. Some Hasegawa I have here, for example, looks very much like 1/76. In those particular cases it's possible to mix both scales in a collection. But there's cases in which the discrepance between the models is too big. 

[Sgt.Squarehead]

 Hasegawa are normally overscale.....Compare their Pz.IV with Revell or Dragon.

[calmmyst]

Why Does Aifix Sell a product marked in print on the box, in the instructions 1/72, yet after you build the thing its so obvious its a 1/76 scale, same size as the 1/76 scale Ive built, but did not want. I ordered by mistake the AEC Matador and 5.5inch gun #1314, and was horrified when on that box it showed 1/76, so I ordered another one, and this time made damn sure it was 1/72, I got it, it clearly states 1/72 on the BOX in the INSTRUCTIONs TOO, but its so obvious its almost a JOKE, its the same 1/76 scale matador and 5.5 inch gun,   only this one shows #01314, AIRFIX why the DECEPTION,? WHY THE LIE? WHY MISLEADING PRINT AND LABELING? all your doing is making me Stay the hell away from your products, and to get the word out to others on social media, to beware of your DECEPTIONS !!! you have no idea how angry i was to order what I thought I was getting, 1/72 to find its still the lame 1/76 outdated dinosaur scale, Its like the DODO bird EXTINCT! its as bad as saying OO and HO are the same thing to, when its NOT. what do you PLAN to DO NEXT, Print on the BOX NEW TOOL, and print 1/72 too, to convince the public its not 1/76, when we all know it will be. Im really upset with your DECEPTIONs........Thankfully I can get the models i want from companies such as Dragon, Hasegawa and others, I will not buy another Aifix product again, I dont trust your company, even if you sold a product for a penny, I still wouldnt believe you would deliver what you promised. Not my fault, blame your selves. I hate being LIED TO! and if I mispelled, oh well I got my point across.

[Ratch]

 Oh dear. To buy once in error is unfortunate. But to but twice....

[calmmyst]

 I have over 400 1/72 scale aircraft, and a few products made from matchbox, though lack detail, kinda suck, but at least I can place a variant of the PB4Y-2 by matcbox next to a B-24 by Revell and have the same wingspan, which the PB4Y-2 was based on.

  I wanted to add Vehicles to my cargo planes, and ships, and I have a German 1/72 halftrack by Hasegawa, and a German 1/72 halftrack by ATALERI, which side by side looked great, then when I just got the same thing from 1/72 halftrack by AIRFIX, it was obviously undersized, when I hastily built the thing.

I did not think AIRFIX would Be so decpetive. I wanted Vehicles for my 1/72 scale Landing craft, made by Armageddon LTC-6 and German Vehicles for my 321 and 323 GIGANTs made by REVELL. in all cases the AIRFIX were to obvious smaller compared to an identical Vehicles.

This is what Got me looking into this DECEPTION by AIRFIX, and thier marketing lies. Im not a Gammer, so SCALE is Very important to me. I ordered a a Matador, not realizing it was 1/76, so I just said oops, and ordered it in 1/72, to my suprise, the matador though the BOX and instructions both say 1/72, were in fact 1/76, when I BUILT the STUPID THING, and placed it next to the mistake i ordered 1/76 Matador. THEY were identical.

I gave the built AIRFIX to my grandson to play with, which they didnt last long, I didnt care. The dog got one too, LOL. to me thats all there good for, TRASH. If I wanted 1/76 scale, I would have ordered and bought 1/76 scale. I only work with 1/72 scale, and have no problem paying 300.00 dollars for the 1/72 scale, as I have 1/72 scale aircraft Ive paid this amount for, though resign, its to 1/72 Scale. My C-5 though not built yet, will look great. it takes for ever to paint and then add detail and weather them down, but worth the outcome.

 As for Airfix, I will no longer buy another 1/72 scale aircraft, If no other company makes it, then it does not exsist. even though AIRFIX makes 1/72 scale Aircraft, which compared to other manufactures, are identical when compared to the same type aircraft. The only thing AIRFIX makes in 1/72 scale for the vehicles are the DECALS. I dont mind paying more to get what I want.  I hate, is having paid for something that wasnt to the scale I want. So why I will not buy another AIRFIX PRODUCT, of any kind !

I Really Hate what AIRFIX did in stating something as to one scale, and not be that scale. In my opinion laugh about it, saying people wont care, nor see any difference, as long as they dont put them side by side to a same type made by another manufacture.

Lucky for me, i caught this early enough not to waste anymore money on AIRFIX products, as I was just starting to get vehicles for my displays. to anyone who likes 1/76 scale, im happy for you. 

[Stugbit]

Yep. But there are some of them that sounds smaller to me. Their tiger tank fits well with my 1:76 airfix models. Nitto isso another company that have mistakes with their scale. I bought recently a Nitto Stug III C/d. It  isnt 1:76 at all. It is more like 1:72. 

Since I build my models in context, it looked like quite weird when you put it side by side with a 1:76 Pz III. 

If airfix stops with their 1:76 catalogue, I'll have to rely on ebay only. I buy the old models from Fujimi and Matchbox there. 

[81F]

 Hi all,

 

There are advantages to producing models inn 1/76 in that it opens them up to a whole market - 4mm/foot railway Modellers like myself (OO, EM and P4). Or at least that would apply to models that would be seen in the UK. Although I have some 1:72 aircraft, the fact they are overscale is not noticeable when suspended above the layout, model vehicles are a different kettle of fish particularly if you want a couple of tanks for your Warwell or Rectank wagons.

 

I really wish Airdfx would make some 1/76 Railway guns. I have a Hobbyboss kit for a German one but I fearf that it will be too wide to get running on OO track (which at 16.5mm is a scale 2.33mm too narrow) will be a very interesting challenge!

 

A couple of siege Howitzers or other pieces of artillery in 1/76 would also be nice I could then fit them to some ready to run well wagons to make the lighter types of railway gun.

 

I would also add that OO or 4mm Railway moddelling is still quite welll supported so things could work both ways. Aside from giving you the ability to add railways to a diorama, there are lots of building kits, bridges and several suitable civilian vehicles that could be used in dioramas

[Kenneth ONeill]

@81F - I suspect you'd be right there; standard guage is 18.83mm in 1/76 scale. OO guage is 1/76 with the track gauge reduced to 1/87.

[Michael Meister1707820176]

The threat to the market is 1/72 diecast armour and vehicles. There is a huge selection out there and they are relatively cheap especially once you factor in cost of paints etc for a plastic one.

[ntrocket88]

So it’s now official. 1/76 is dead. With Airfix announcing their new 1/72 Sherman Firefly and Tiger 1 kits, the last surviving 1/76 ground warfare injection molding manufacturer it seems has switched to 1/72. This is a sad day for me personally, since I don’t buy 1/72, only 1/76. I understand Airfix making this decision (at long last some will say), since all the newer small scale manufacturers produce guns and vehicles in 1/72 and the breadth of injection molded offerings in this scale means that it has come to dominate the market. Nevertheless, my money at least will not be flowing up to Airfix in future.

 

But… I do wonder how Airfix expects to make inroads into a market that may already be saturated? Take the new releases, for example. There are already two other 1/72 Firefly kits and who knows how many Tiger 1. And these already range from highly detailed and expensive to snap together simple and cheap. Where is the market for the Airfix versions? Once again Airfix seems to have made a small and inadequate gesture to small scale armor rather than a full-blooded commitment.

 

Indeed, I have to believe that all the popular and lucrative subjects have already been covered by other 1/72 manufacturers and so this may be too little and far, far too late. I know diehard modelers will list their unfulfilled pet project needs and complain about this or that existing kit’s accuracy but even so, is the volume there even if Airfix were to take the chance? Supporting the new Wargaming scales like 1/100 might have made more sense and provided more market opportunity.

 

Just some thoughts FWIW.

[peebeep]

But… I do wonder how Airfix expects to make inroads into a market that may already be saturated? 

 

They can do it by making kits of popular subjects that are recognisable to the average bod. Like a Sherman and Tiger Tank. Both these subjects have been on the catalogue since the year dot, with regular re-releases and that suggests that they always sell well. So the new kits are in a new scale? Most punters (it's a big demographic with masses of casual buyers) will hardly notice the difference. I predict both kits will sell by the shed load and it's of no consequence to Airfix if other manufacturers appear to have saturated the market, as you suggest it's very big compared with 1/76 and the logic is irrefutable. If you don't offer buyers any 1/72 armour kits, you won't sell any 1/72 armour kits. In commercial terms Airfix should have bitten this bullet as Revell did years ago. To their credit, Revell have never lost faith with their Matchbox tooled 1/76 armour, there's three re-releases lined up for the coming year. I'd hope Airfix adopt the same policy.

 

 

[Kenneth ONeill]

Well, approaching this from a different angle, I make it that the M4 (medium) was produced with at least 2 different differential cases, 4 hulls (and/or engines), 3 main cannon, 2 turrets, optional applique armour panels, HVSS or VVSS, so that's maybe 96 different models before we even consider Easy 8, Firefly, flamethrower tanks, or oddities (like the tanks that were field repaired with a single M3 bogie), DD, mine plough and calliope versions!

Complaints about "another Sherman" need to be confined to when manufacturer2 produces the exact same sub-variant as manufacturer1 has!

[Pete44]

1/76th scale is not dead. Just start making metal kits. It would be a shame if Airfix give up on 1/76th as 1/72nd is more expensive and a saturated market. When U.K. leaves the EU 1/72nd kits will probably increase in price and become too expensive for kids who are the future of the hobby.

[Afrika]

I still believe that 1/76 could have great potential and a bright future . The 1/72 scale market is now flooded with manufacturers. A reappraisal of what a 1/76 scale model should provide would be a good starting point. 

1 Any model should have separate crew hatches, to allow crew figures to be placed if so chosen.

2 The kit should include some crew figures to man the tank .

3 Stowage items for the tank model should be included in the kit .

4 Any tank tools etc should be moulded separately if possible to make painting easier.

5 The model kit should allow for different versions of the tank to be made.

6 Road wheels, return rollers, drive sprocket and idler wheels need to be separate items , with either link and length tracks or single length tracks made out of a flexible plastic material of some sort that can easily be glued to the tanks return rollers to simulate the track saggoing or not.

7 An instruction sheet that described alternate modelling options plus a more extensive and more detailed painting guide prepared by modellers with matching transfers.

8 Include a 1/76 scale 5 view plan of the tank being modelled .

I think the above would go a long way in providing a new ' standard ' for plastic AFV construction kits. This would provide a very good model both for the serious modeller and the wargamer who wants a good model , but with a bit more detail and can be customised with crew figures and stowage.

What do others think ?.

[Peter s]

There's no shortage of 1/72 Spitfires, P51's, FW190s etc. Any kit manufacturer has those on their books. Airfix sell them by the bucket load because there's are at least as good as anyone elses. I'm in the other camp... I like to display my aircraft as diorama's and the 1/76 ground vehicles and figures are just too small. Not badly so buy you can tell.

Afrika: I think your list would make a fine kit but it would obviously add to the cost of each kit. I don't wargame but I think wargamers need quite a lot of any one unit... ONE sherman isn't enough. They need a squadron so cost is important. I've started doing the same with some of my aircraft. Rather than buy 1 Hurricane I buy 2 or 3 and do them as a set. At £6 or £7 per kit this is very affordable. At £15-20 not so.

Paws4thot. Not quite! Not all parts were interchanged with other parts. For instance you would never had a diesel engine in a cast hull with HVSS suspension and a 17lb gun. However just to counter-argue with myself you had multiple mantlet styles (early war M4s didn't have a big gun sheild). BTW I make it 4 main guns: 75mm 76mm 17lb 105mm 

[peebeep]

What do others think ?.

 

What you describe is idealistic and would result in a disproportionately high priced product. It's not the sort of thing that Airfix have ever done and I doubt they ever would. Personally I think the Cromwell is an object lesson in how a small scale AFV can be done. With one or two tiny caveats it's near perfect (IMO).With regard to scale I would think the Cromwell and KT are the last we will see from Airfix. I would guess they will continue to expand into 1/72 AFVs and like Revell re-release popular 1/76 kits whilst the tooling is still good. 

[PanzerMeister12]

Yes, this would be a nice addition to this range...I would also be good if Airfix discontinued some of its vintage classics like the Panther or in the Panther's case actually make the tracks the correct length and remove the pointless riveting form around the frontal chassis hatches!

[peebeep]

Wouldn't be surprised to see a 1/72 Panther announced next week.

[Pete44]

Lucky for me there are plenty of metal and resin 1/76 kits being released. So if Airfix don’t make any more new 1/76 kits I will just spend my money on other producers. My opinion is that the 1/72 market is flooded and no point in adding to it. 1/76 may not be the scale of choice for the majority of modellers, but it is for the majority of ww2 war gamers. Who I may add buy more than one of each kit.