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What's your bet on the next 1/24 th Airfix kit ?


Erwin

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My guess it would be a Spitfire... i just don't know which Mark.

Or, a P-51D. Very popular subject with broad appeal. But...Airfix would probably like to know how well the Tamiya P-51D has been selling. Many people are afraid of bare metal subject matter.

 

But what do I know??  I'm a Corsair guy.

 

-d-

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I realise this will rain on a few parades, but I asked this very question of the head of the Airfix research team, at Telford last year. While he was happy to tell me that they are already working on the next one, he (naturally) wouldn't say what it was, but did say that it wasn't (and wouldn't be) a Spitfire, because it was considered that there weren't enough "extras" that were hung on the airframes, to justify it in the large scale.

This tends to head me off in the direction of Sea Fury, Hunter, Buccaneer, etc., but we'll see,

First of all, Airfix have told Edgar that it WON'T be a Spitfire.

Second, Airfix do not, and will not be issuing kits in 1/32nd.

 

So why the predictions for Spitfires, or 1/32nd scale kits??

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First of all, Airfix have told Edgar that it WON'T be a Spitfire.

Second, Airfix do not, and will not be issuing kits in 1/32nd.

 

So why the predictions for Spitfires, or 1/32nd scale kits??

 

Agreed! ...

 

1/24 (besides the smaller scales) is their thing ...

 

Apart from their Mosquito ... the only kits I'll keep in that scale are Hawker products ...

 

It seems Trumpeter have the Hurricane market covered in that scale (I have both Mk.I and Mk.II), with reasonably accurate renditions ...

 

... which suits me fine as I have Airfix's Harrier GR.3 and Typhoon.

 

My bet (or read 'hope') would be a Tempest or Sea Fury ... and either of those would get my money.

 

Rog :)

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First of all, Airfix have told Edgar that it WON'T be a Spitfire.

Second, Airfix do not, and will not be issuing kits in 1/32nd.

 

So why the predictions for Spitfires, or 1/32nd scale kits??

 

Agreed! But of course, what was said to Edgar could have been a bluff?  :)

 

Airfix may consider that their venerable old Mk I still has some shelf life. Personally, I still like the kit, but a new tool 1/24 Spitfire would be an absolute cash cow even if it was another Mk I. Trevor Snowdon wanted a Mk IX produced and I would love a Griffon variant personally. I'm certain that we will see one some day...and I hope that applies to the Bf-109E as well.

 

Having said that, I will welcome any new 1/24 kit they produce. I love the scale for it's sheer presence but I have to say that it does seem to get sneered at in favour of 1/32....even on this site. I really get fed up with the "Airfix should release said kit XYZ in 1/32 instead" discussions. I know it's only my opinion, but there are buckets of 1/32 kits around these days. We've never had it better and I'm glad that Airfix fly the flag for those of us that like 1/24. We don't exactly have much to choose from.

 

Regards;

Steve

 

PS: And I will never buy that "1/24 kits are far to large to display" argument. As I have pointed out before, a 1/24 Spitfire is more or less the same size as a 1/72 Lancaster....and I rarely hear complaints about storage issues for 1/72 heavies!...

 

 

....Sorry! I must be having a grumpy day!  :sorry:

Edited by fightersweep
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I can't seem to get the quote system to work but in reply to Artful69's comment that "It seems Trumpeter have the Hurricane market covered in that scale (I have both Mk.I and Mk.II), with reasonably accurate renditions..."

 

I'm not sure that Airfix would see that as a reason not to pursue an all new tooling of the Hurricane. It would be more of a challenge, and one I hope they undertake, to produce a kit on the same level of superbness (is that a word? :doh:) as their Typhoon... that can represent all the main variants...

 

Don't get me wrong, I love what Trumpeter have done for our hobby, but the urge to populate my stash with their 1/24 kits is no-where near what it would be for Airfix... Trumpy's 1/350 ships on the other hand are a different matter... :whistle: don't tell SWMBO that :D

 

It's doubtful any of us are privy to either Airfix's or Trumpy's sales figures, but clearly Trumpy saw that there was enough market demand to release a Hurri even though Airfix's was still on the market, and Airfix still seem to garner enough sales to justify having kits from the original tooling still on the market. Whether or not Airfix see fit to take on Trumpy in this area-who knows?

 

Or will Airfix produce something that's never been done before? But this leaves Airfix in an odd position: 3 modern excellent 1/24 kits (Mossie, Tiffy and all new unknown a/c) and their still good, but ageing range. Or do they bite the bullet and start re-tooling their 1/24 kits in the same manner as they have their 1/72 and 1/48 ranges so that it all comes up to the same standard?

 

Only time (and our wallets) will tell :rolleyes:

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A Griffon Spitfire would take my money in a heartbeat, and if their 1/48 P-40B/C is any good, a 1/24 version could be gold. True, there has been a kit of it in 1/24, but it was SOOOO Bad- and there still isn't a good Tomahawk in 1/32 either (the Trumpeter kit is sort of derived from the VW kit as well has having it's own nasty)

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Fightersweep, nobody's anti-1/24 it's just about standardisation. The only way on Earth we would get some esoteric British delights in 1/32 is for a home grown company to tackle them.

 

HKM have been a huge inspiration in this regard - Meteor, Mossie, with Lanc and Spey Tooms before long - but they are the exception. And I seriously doubt they will ever do a Scimitar, Sea Vixen or Buccaneer.

 

My own belief is that the RAF Centenary in 2018 will greatly shape the subject. I.e. British, RAF and mainstream, in the public consciousness from air shows etc.

If underwing stores are a must too, as Edgar stated, then I'd guess the ones that tick all the boxes are BAe Hawk and Eurofighter Typhoon II.

 

Tony

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A late Spitfire like a Mk.22/24 would be spectacular, but I'll take Edgar's word that they won't be doing a Spitfire.

 

 

In that case though, I'd be all on board for a Hawker Sea Fury in 1/24.  Especially if they include the detail they did in the Typhoon for a Sea Fury.  Korean War markings please!

 

 

 

Matt  :frantic:

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I'm not sure that Airfix would see that as a reason not to pursue an all new tooling of the Hurricane. It would be more of a challenge, and one I hope they undertake, to produce a kit on the same level of superbness (is that a word? :doh:) as their Typhoon... that can represent all the main variants...

 

Don't get me wrong, I love what Trumpeter have done for our hobby, but the urge to populate my stash with their 1/24 kits is no-where near what it would be for Airfix... Trumpy's 1/350 ships on the other hand are a different matter... :whistle: don't tell SWMBO that :D

 

It's doubtful any of us are privy to either Airfix's or Trumpy's sales figures, but clearly Trumpy saw that there was enough market demand to release a Hurri even though Airfix's was still on the market, and Airfix still seem to garner enough sales to justify having kits from the original tooling still on the market. Whether or not Airfix see fit to take on Trumpy in this area-who knows?

 

Russelle ...

 

I think that the reason that Trumpeter went hard at a 1/24 scale kit of the Hurricane was that the currently available Airfix kit was getting long in the tooth and there was bound to be a market for it rebooted ... which, judging by it's popularity (post release), there was ...

 

Trumpeter were also good enough to supply a few new tool, appropriately detailed and accurate, versions. That second part is the key. If Trumpeter had produced a series of kits that were wrought with unfixable flaws (as we know they are quite capable of doing) then the kit may not have done so well. After all ... Airfix's effort was still in production and at a cheaper price ... it's not as if there wasn't an alternative for the Mk.I

 

Because it's such a good series ... I don't think there are too many manufacturers out there that would perceive any sort of profitable market to reinvent the wheel.

It seems to me, that ... when Trumpeters 'A' team produce an accurate rendition of a popular choice of kit in a desired scale, the general outcry for that subject, in said scale, drops markedly ... such as with a variety of their 1/32 releases (Swordfish, Me262, Dauntless etc).

And lets face it - most of the rest of their kits aren't really all that bad ... Their 109's get a hammering, but they're really not all that bad stacked up against Hasegawa or Revell ... the flaws are there, of course - but flaws exist with the competition also.

 

... And then .... there are some shockers. Unfortunately, Trumpeters percentage ratio of shockers to awesome kits is rather large and so they've garnered a poor reputation ...

 

Which proves ... in this industry at least ... that it is hard to earn a good reputation - and very easy to develop a bad one ... AND keep it!

It's also very difficult to eclipse a kit, that has a good reputation, with another (Dragon's Bf109E's or Bf110's) ...

 

Unless, of course, you are Tamiya (again, reputation! - though well deserved) ... in which case, you do just whatever the hell you like and know it will sell like hot cakes, no matter how many of that subject matter are already on the market or the quality of them, or if your price for it is the equivalent of a small country's national debt.

 

Rog :)

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