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vh-bob

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Everything posted by vh-bob

  1. I really like this one, I have built it myself and found it not to be a difficult build. Thanks to Amodel, I have three more of the family to make from the stash. Well Done, Trev.
  2. DDC, you'r right of course but as I explained at the beginning I merely quoted the Museum price as being the most expensive, but two other sources only differed by one and two dollars respectively. I don't make a habit of buying kits from Museum gift shops. There seems to be some who claim that kit prices have remained relative over the years, costing no more now than they did then. More years ago than I care to remember, I bought both the then new Airfix Superfreighter and Wellington from my share of my 1st year apprentice wages of A$9.00. The new version of the Wellington is way too rich the
  3. Ken, it's looking as if I was out of line here as it seems that most are happy to pay today's asking prices. I shall content myself with trying to reduce the size of my stash, built up during a life time of modelling. I really did enjoy opening a new kit with great expectations that this would be something special though. I'll just have to be content watching Youtube in future. Thanks to all who replied, Trev.
  4. Ken, I understand the on costs involved and don't expect to buy a kit for the UK retail price, but we do not pay the UK vat. and deliveries to hobby shops is usually by surface mail, so relatively cheap. Do you think that there is a problem with the wholesaler skimming too much off the top ? and if so should not the kit manufacturer not have some input here as the last thing he needs is poor sales caused by someone else profiting from his efforts ? I suppose if you put aside the reasons for the high prices for the moment, the simple question is are most modellers happy to pay the equivalent o
  5. That was my original point, the Tiger and others in this series are entry level kits. Their accuracy and levels of detail are mostly beyond question but I hope we are not subsidising those who upon closing up the fuselage only to have most of it disappear forever and then say "but I know it's in there ". I used the Moth kit as an example of most modellers having a number of types that form small sub groups in their collections with several examples of a certain type illustrating its design evolution or merely displaying various colours that it has worn. For example I have on my shelves a sing
  6. I think that there may be some misunderstanding as to the Tiger Moth kit I used as an example. This is not the original 1960s effort but the roughly 5 year old retooled and very beautiful example. Likewise although I was rather selfishly bemoaning the fact that I could no longer afford the price of new kits, there is a bigger problem for modellers and the hobby in general in that unless the trade can find a way to rein in prices, more and more will be in my position resulting in lower and lower sales and therefor manufactures turning their factories to producing more cost effective kitchen ute
  7. Don, I sometimes think I'm penny pinching but it looks like you have the same problem in Canada. On a visit to Vancouver several years ago I noticed prices in shops were similar to ours. In this whinge it may seem that I am picking on Airfix but I am only citing them as an example the same applies to the other manufacturers. I get the impression that producing model kits must be easy way to go broke and I value the efforts of those who do but again speaking of Airfix I would love to build their B-17, Wellington or Shackleton etc. but they are out my price range and I worry that despite their
  8. Darren. I hear what you are saying and while I don't mind if the museum were doing this as the money would be going to a good cause, however they are not my major source of kits although I have shopped there on occasions, I was using them as an example of having the dearest price for the Tiger Moth. It is available from other sellers but the price varies only by a dollar or so. When I hear of obviously well heeled modellers calling for a new Vulcan or Saunders Roe Princess, I cant help but feel that the hobby has passed me by and I am forced to delve into my stack of crusty old kits that fortu
  9. Thanks scotthldr, if that is so I think Airfix and others should look into the profit margins of their importers Trev.
  10. I am interested in the UK prices quoted which seem to reinforce my suspicion that something is not right with what is being charged here. and yes scotthldr it is the kit with the 12 LASU option. However, it is not just the Tiger Moth price that is the problem but the fact that this is now the asking price for all new Airfix kits of this size, Ever since the arrival of the new tool Red Box series of kits, each new batch has been substantially dearer than the last having risen from around A$10 to nearly A$30 with the larger kits also rising by a similar margin and as I said previously I know of
  11. I have raised this subject here on a previous occasion and found that in the opinion of many, current kit pricing seems acceptable. A well researched article in "Constant Scale", the Airfix collectors magazine reaches the same conclusion as regards the pricing of Airfix kits, saying that if modellers want the level of accuracy and detail provided by today's products then this is the price we must pay. I admit that I am an old age pensioner and my income isn't relative to the workers of today and that my stash is large enough to last several lifetimes but I have always had a lot of pleasure i
  12. Tank, Sorry I think that you missed my point, my suspicion is that the store bought these kits from Hobby King direct in bulk and is reselling them at a mark up of around 500 % and I thought that was a bit greedy. In this country, there seems to be an Australia tax where the retailer decides his margin by the "What do you think we can get for this ?" method. With companies like Airfix falling on hard times, I can't see their sales improving when THEIR version of the C-47 retails in the same shop for over A$90.00, is anyone else paying prices like this for this kit ?. I don't mind paying a f
  13. Sorry to start this topic again but a friend while browsing the Hobby King site noticed a number of Italleri kits for sale at knock down prices, obviously a clearance sale but knowing that I was a modeller brought it to my attention. Among the items on offer was the Italaeri 1 / 72 scale C-47 Dakota, my DC-3 of choice once again due to the high price of the Airfix example. These were being offered at a paltry A$9 .99 with similar prices on other kits from the Italian manufacturer although I will admit that this is less postage. However on a visit to one of our local hobby shops later in the da
  14. Another well built Flanker. Your models serve to show what a complex subject that these Sukhois can be. When I start to build them I shall have to consult you on which variant is which. Well Done, Trev (vh-bob)
  15. A beautiful build, it's the aircraft that soldiered on long after WW II that interest me. Well Done, Trev (vh-bob)
  16. For some reason, when the subject of price of kits is raised (as I have a couple of times recently) there seems to be a number of people who rush to defend the high prices using the argument that they are commensurate with today's wages. As Aussie_Superbug has pointed out above, how do you justify around $60.00 for a 1/72 Hornet or $120.00 for an Airfix Victor ? My LHS has just got in the new Revell Mig-29, a reissue of the kit originally produced by Zvesda and that retails for $59.99, way out of my reach. A friend who works for an import agency tells me that his boss will not look at anyt
  17. Rex, I most likely didn't explain myself well but in no way was I downplaying the efforts of modellers who build today's excellent kits, nor was I advocating a return to the stone age. Like you , I have no use for a Hawk Texan either but it is a good illustration of what I was getting at. As I said, my interest is in colour schemes worn by aircraft and the various modifications made during their production life, hence my line up of eight BAC Lightnings for example. There have been a number of different models of Texans produced over the years and I have built many of them. Currently in 1/72
  18. Any model that has a canopy that doesn't look right in the closed position because some one moulded it in separate bits. Trev. (vh-bob)
  19. Ryan, I think that you have the right attitude , there are still many types only represented by kits produced in a simpler time, for example the Airfix 1/72 F-86 D Sabre. To my mind a great kit and although hard to obtain today was the only viable option in the scale. For those of us who are not pot hunters but try to produce a finished model to the best of our abilities and maybe a small group of them to illustrate the various markings carried by the type, a kit of this standard is all that is required. However were this kit to be re released today the knockers would have a field
  20. I don't know if I too am getting old and grumpy , but I find that I sympathise with baronred3. The loss of the LHS is a problem to me, kits can certainly be ordered via the net, although ridiculous postage is killing that avenue as well. A $10.00 kit and $45.00 to post from the US for example. The main worry that I have is the staples and their lack of availability, for example I find a need for some Humbrol Polished Aluminium and Dull Aluminium paint for a current project. As far as I know there are only three shops within a reasonable drive of my home and all are out of stock of this and ma
  21. Ryan, it sounds as if this one had a close encounter with the "shelf of doom" but perseverance paid off in the end. Well Done , Trev,
  22. Ryan, nice to see the photo recon version modelled for a change. Well Done, Trev.
  23. Magnificent, I will certainly need a set of those decals. Trev.
  24. Nice job Thommo, I think you have nailed it with this one. Well Done, Trev
  25. As Hoosfoos said, we all have stashed away in our minds a certain standard that we like to keep. Like him I have no claim to being a perfectionist but from time to time I produce models that are just messy, not because of lack of experience, but something else. I feel that I built my best models twenty years ago and am now on the back side of the curve. In a way that is hard to explain when I look at models displayed on this and other sites, the better youtube builds and magazines etc. they seem to have a "Crispness" for want of a better word that I would love to achieve, where as my efforts r
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