Airfix 2012 Catalouge !here!!

[markmarples]

just got my email with mine in, i know what i want !! heres a list of whats new and rereleased

ok

special ltd club members specials

piccys of a meteor boxing

piccys of a puccura boxing

kits

1/72

new tools

mustang

109e-4

gnat

spitfire mk22

koerean mustang

109e trop

skyhawk!

swordfish floatplane

mig29

valiant Bmk1 sprue set

re release

CHIPMONK!!!

dauntless

TUCCANO!

handley page 0/400

1/48 new tools

lynx army

lynx navy

raf merlin

landrover

landrover etch parts

jackle

cayote

jackle / cayote etch parts

british army troops

british army vehicle crew

2x different afghan buildings

1/48 re release

sea harrier frs1

harrier gr3

seafire 46/47

1/350 new tool

HMS Daring

1/76 new tool

King Tiger

2x differning bridges

1/32 New Tool

ford fiesta WRC

mini cooper

1/12 re release

bentley 1930

engenering new tools

Petrol engine 4 stroke

maudsley perton engine

[ChernayaAkula]

Yay for new tool Spit F.22, MiG-29 (please don't have trenches, please don't have trenches! ) and re-release of the Tucano! The Brit army stuff in 1/48 is going to be interesting, too! Edited December 30, 2011 by ChernayaAkula

[pollie]

A new tool 1/72 Skyhawk and MiG-29! If they will be the same quality as their recent Harrier Gr.9 than

[ixgr1]

1/48 new tools

lynx army

lynx navy

raf merlin

[peebeep]

The MiG is a re-issue, not new tooling.

peebeep

[DutyCat]

I think it is wonderful that Hornby is investing some capital into Airfix and allowing them the opportunity to re-establish themselves. I wonder if they still own Heller? They should keep that brand going too and use the name for classic Heller kit re-releases, kind of like what Revell is doing with the Monogram label.

[JasonW]

The MiG is a re-issue, not new tooling.

peebeep

That's okay with me, it's still one of the better 1/72 Fulcrums out there.

[-Neu-]

A big load of meh in 1/72. Basically most of those kits will go up against extremely stiff competition by established market leader kits... and Airfix's latest release quality I find somewhat lacking....

Mustang: Hasegawa and Tamiya

BF 109e-4: ICM

Spitfire mk22: CMR, Xtrakit, MPM, AZ all less than five years old.

Skyhawk! FUJIMI!

I know they are just checking off all the bases and the skyhawk makes sense, but a Spitfire Mk22 and a Mustang?

[James Colley]

Who are Airfix selling to? Just looking at the home UK market, for the average kit buyer, i.e. who buys in a shop, not off the internet, they are most likely to see Airfix or Revell kits, and possibly Tamiya; Hasegawa don't seem to be stocked much in the UK since they doubled / tripled in price a couple of years a go, and there just isn't the brand recognition for many others brands

For the Mustang, Hasegawa & Tamiya are both double what the Airfix kit will probably cost, also appears to be a cash cow for any manufacture.

The ICM 109, has limited avalibility, Same goes for the Spitfire Mk22 & Skyhawk

Good calls from Airfix, although still not sure what they are doing with 1/48 armour, as they would get far more sales by issuing kits in 1/35 which is the dominant scale for AFV's.

Edited December 30, 2011 by James Colley

[JasonW]

A big load of meh in 1/72. Basically most of those kits will go up against extremely stiff competition by established market leader kits... and Airfix's latest release quality I find somewhat lacking....

Mustang: Hasegawa and Tamiya

BF 109e-4: ICM

Spitfire mk22: CMR, Xtrakit, MPM, AZ all less than five years old.

Skyhawk! FUJIMI!

I know they are just checking off all the bases and the skyhawk makes sense, but a Spitfire Mk22 and a Mustang?

I was discussing this with a co-worker at the shop I work at the other day. We were noticing that a LOT of the Airfix kits we sell seem to be intended for kids getting introduced to the hobby by a dad/uncle/grandfather or similar. I don't know if this is Hornby's intent, but Airfix is putting out a reasonably decent line of kits with okay (not outstanding by any stretch) detail that go together relatively easily without much fuss and look reasonable for what they are supposed to represent and best of all don't break the bank. When I was a kid, you could get a model with your allowance money. I don't know what the average allowance is nowadays, but I suspect many kids would be hard pressed to by ANY Hasegawa kits with their meager funds. Airfix, whether intentional, or not is starting to fill a niche in the kit market with their range of newer 1/72 kits priced between $9-$16. They may not be up to snuff with the likes of Tamiya, Hase etc. but I think for the market they seem to be aiming at they're selling pretty well at our shop. After all, Hornby is primarily a toy/train manufacturer.

Just my mental ruminations and hypothesizing.

[-Neu-]

Who are Airfix selling to? Just looking at the home UK market, for the average kit buyer, i.e. who buys in a shop, not off the internet, they are most likely to see Airfix or Revell kits, and possibly Tamiya; Hasegawa don't seem to be stocked much in the UK since they doubled / tripled in price a couple of years a go, and there just isn't the brand recognition for many others brands

For the Mustang, Hasegawa & Tamiya are both double what the Airfix kit will probably cost, also appears to be a cash cow for any manufacture.

The ICM 109, has limited avalibility, Same goes for the Spitfire Mk22 & Skyhawk

Good calls from Airfix, although still not sure what they are doing with 1/48 armour, as they would get far more sales by issuing kits in 1/35 which is the dominant scale for AFV's.

Sure... however I'm just talking about my selfish viewpoint (brits can complain about Hasegawa pricing, why can't I about Airfix?). Why would I buy a Airfix Mustang for about $10~13 dollars (based on other kits) when I can get a Tamiya one for about 18, or a hase one for 15?

[-Neu-]

I was discussing this with a co-worker at the shop I work at the other day. We were noticing that a LOT of the Airfix kits we sell seem to be intended for kids getting introduced to the hobby by a dad/uncle/grandfather or similar. I don't know if this is Hornby's intent, but Airfix is putting out a reasonably decent line of kits with okay (not outstanding by any stretch) detail that go together relatively easily without much fuss and look reasonable for what they are supposed to represent and best of all don't break the bank. When I was a kid, you could get a model with your allowance money. I don't know what the average allowance is nowadays, but I suspect many kids would be hard pressed to by ANY Hasegawa kits with their meager funds. Airfix, whether intentional, or not is starting to fill a niche in the kit market with their range of newer 1/72 kits priced between $9-$16. They may not be up to snuff with the likes of Tamiya, Hase etc. but I think for the market they seem to be aiming at they're selling pretty well at our shop. After all, Hornby is primarily a toy/train manufacturer.

Just my mental ruminations and hypothesizing.

Oh I'm sure its the case and its probably profitable. I think the problem that I see is that import costs raise the price to a level were the lack of quality kinda apparent vis-a-vis the cost of more detailed competitors.

One of the issues I do see is that importers from Asia are not importing as many hasegawa white box kits (the affordable base versions) preferring to bring in the premium ones that are higher cost. I suspect in their home countries, Hasegawa's P-51 is actually the cheapest kit, followed by the Airfix P-51 (again extrapolating based on other releases) and finally would be the Tamiya version. However the difference might be only a dollar or so between them. Add the import prices and in North America its Airfix Tamiya, and I've yet to see a new whitebox Hasegawa sold here yet (though it used to be around 15.)

[Azza]

Keen to see what the Skyhawk looks like - Fujimi are awesome, but are so hard to get especially where I am from.

[Richard M]

Simple answer is Tamiya, Hasegawa, Fujimi and ICM kits don't make any money for Airfix! Subjects like the Mustang and Spitfire are surefire bankers that will bring the money in. The Skyhawk ties in nicely with the 30th Anniversary of the Falkland Islands Conflict victory - there is a dogfight double set with a Skyhawk and SHAR for next year.

[Barnsleybill]

If their new issues are of the same quality as the new issue Swordfish then I wouldn't give over priced Hasegawa or Tamiya kits the time of day. I'll definately be adding the floatplane version to my stash, does it come with markings for the HMS Warspite flight?

Navy Lynx in 1/48 - oh boy!!

[peebeep]

A big load of meh in 1/72. Basically most of those kits will go up against extremely stiff competition by established market leader kits... and Airfix's latest release quality I find somewhat lacking....

What competition? Airfix are selling to a well established market who are likely to buy regardless, but in any case quality has been improving with each new batch of releases. They're plugging gaps by weeding out tooling that should have been dumped long ago and maintaining a long established catalogue. If you think quality is lacking you obviously haven't seen the Swordfish yet. I've also been looking at a comparison between the Fine Molds and new Airfix Zeros. The Airfix may be inferior, but not by a huge amount and it's a fraction of the cost.

peebeep

[Raymond]

Keen to see what the Skyhawk looks like - Fujimi are awesome, but are so hard to get especially where I am from.

yea its about $40ish all up for one of those here; the Airfix will be either $13 or $16. their a4d-1 was a good seller over the years, so a new A-4A/B would do very well! B)

I know locally the new Airfix spits have sold by the ton (thanks in no small part to James Mays TV show)

[Tim Annear]

Now if they would only add a PC-9 to that line-up.

Edited December 31, 2011 by Tim Annear

[Jay Chladek]

Trying to capture more of the kids market is INDEED what Hornby is doing with Airfix and they are VERY smart to do so. Reason being is the hobby's talent base is getting older and not as many kids are entering the hobby. Hornby at least is appreciating Airfix as being a potential budget buster as it is a good construction "toy" (there, I said it, but think about it for a bit) which is also educational in terms of history and hands on skills. I know UK based families don't have quite the same level of disposable income that we enjoy in the states. As such, get a kid a couple Airfix models and some paint tins and all mom really has to worry about is paint in the carpet or clothing. It can be great for occupying a kid's time for a night or two. And I think we also have the ambassador of vehicular carnage, James May of Top Gear fame to thank for that as he is not above building an Airfix kit or two in adult life (and I love that Toy Stories episode he did with the 1:1 scale Spitfire). If it was Hornby's idea to take part in that series it was a brilliant bit of marketing as the train, slot car and Airfix episodes all featured Hornby products (Lego, Meccano and Plasticine got the other parts).

But at the same time, the lower price points also are appealing to the older builders as well. Even with Airfix's bigger budget projects, such as the Valiant and the Sea Vixen, the price points are staying under $50 US. Sure they don't have the photoetch of a China uberkit or Tamiya, but at the same time they know not everyone will build one and so they know the aftermarket will be along to support that niche of the hobby. As for me, I will gladly build OOB if I can as opposed to having to get resin and photoetch UNLESS I have to fix some basic shortcoming. I hate it though as I expect good value in the box and I should not have my hand forced. As such, I become less tolerant of a kit selling for $60 or over compared to something selling for under $30. It helps if the sub-$30 kits from yesteryear are better in shape and accuracy than the close to $100 uber-kit from China.

Even Revell USA is starting to embrace that more, so we are seeing older kits from the Revell Monogram catalogs coming back out for around $20. Frankly, I wish Revell would take the next step and go back to putting WATERSLIDE decals into their snap tite kits (or offering both a sticker sheet and waterslides like what Pegasus does) as I think when they went to stickers exclusively, it killed some of their appeal. If a kid is going to build models, he has to learn how to apply waterslide decals sometime afterall. But at the same time though, Revell USA isn't offering any new tools while Airfix is. Revell of Germany is though because their market suffers from the same budget woes as the UK (and they market more to the UK than the USA anyway).

Getting back to Airfix, I love what they are doing in 1/72. I picked up their BAe Red Arrows Hawk and it is a NICE little kit for under a tener. I am going to build one for the Aerobatic GB and may build a couple more as there are plenty of schemes a Hawk can wear. Sure some of new the Airfix offerings in 1/72 may have deep panel lines. Some of the older tools (such as the P-39 and the Defiant) I also think should be retired as they really show signs of aging poorly. But, at the same time they don't cost over $20 either. I look at the prices for new tool 1/72 Merlin engined Spitfire kits from companies like Sword and AZ models and I think how I could afford two or three new tool Airfix Spitfires for the same price (Mk Ia, Mk IX and Mk XIX) and a set or two of aftermarket decals. Okay, so maybe the more expensive kits will get me a hyper accurate variant of the mark, but once painted, I doubt most people could tell the difference unless the cockpit were opened up. I think the only choice Airfix messed up with is they should have done a Mk V wing for their brilliant Mk Ia kit rather than repopping the old Mk V again. But, even then the old raised panel line Mk V is a nice kit in its own right (I did the old Mk Ia and had a lovely time with it as it reintroduced what made modeling fun for me).

So Good on Airfix for doing it!

Edited December 31, 2011 by Jay Chladek

[Flying Pancake]

I suspect in their home countries, Hasegawa's P-51 is actually the cheapest kit, followed by the Airfix P-51 (again extrapolating based on other releases) and finally would be the Tamiya version.

Actually I do believe the Academy kit is cheapest here with a list of 800Â¥ followed by Tamiya at 1000Â¥ and the Hasegawa white box P-51D at 1200Â¥. But good luck finding the Academy kit at the LHS here unless perhaps you live in Tokyo or Osaka and have a mega hobby shop close by. Can't recall seeing an Airfix Mustang though I can't say I've ever bothered to look with Tamiya/Hase being so cheap anyway.

I'm curious about the Airfix Zero though. I have two of the Fine Mold kits in my stash so if I can find the Airfix I'll take a look and see how it is. Tamiya is also coming out with their own new tool 1/72 Zero this February so I suspect that will also not be quite as good as the Fine Mold but better than the others out there.

Personally I'd love to see a 1/72 De Havilland Hornet on that list but I'll hold out hope for next year.

[markmarples]

the budget for most families in the UK is small i recently got my 8 year old into modeling, he will sit and make a kit in much the same way as i did many a year agon, then spend hours playing with the plane or tank, airfix i think have hit on this well, he now uses he pocket money to buy the starter sets or cheap kits to expand his airforce (he has at least 10 hawks now)

so on one hand the younger generation are buying kits again, but so am i but i buy the bigger kits, to me airfix have got it right

they have 3 distinct ranges

1 - cheap well selling kids kits, that are expanding and the new releases show this (we can get series one or 2 kits here for less than £5 and some stores (the works) sell the older gift sets for £3)

2 - the middle of the road model makers kits for middle aged men to enjoy as a hobby (thats me!)

3 - the serious model makers kits - somthing like the big mossie, i could never justify that amount of cash on a model but some would (and well you get more for your money than a hasse kit!)

and lets face it the newer kits are fantastic, the vixen just superb, the nimrod even better, yes i know some of the new kits have trenches but i think that comes form the fact that hornby owns corgi as well and they share some templates with airfix

let alone the airfix club, which by way of saving tokens you get free kits (bar the p&p) i got a new seafire last week from them it cost me 30 tokens and £1.50 postage, that encourages me to buy more

saying all of that, im happy with the new 1/72's but a little disappointed with hte 1/48's but a couple of lynxes will keep me going, and i have a sneaky suspision there will be some secret releases later in the year

[-Neu-]

What competition? Airfix are selling to a well established market who are likely to buy regardless, but in any case quality has been improving with each new batch of releases. They're plugging gaps by weeding out tooling that should have been dumped long ago and maintaining a long established catalogue. If you think quality is lacking you obviously haven't seen the Swordfish yet.

I don't have the Swordfish but I bought the Mig-15, which was an utter disappointment. Granted there are some very good kits (like the valiant) but there have been several big misses as well.

I've also been looking at a comparison between the Fine Molds and new Airfix Zeros. The Airfix may be inferior, but not by a huge amount and it's a fraction of the cost.

peebeep

I don't have all three in front of me, but to me the Airfix zero's exterior is slightly inferior to the Hasegawa kit (its missing some of the details and the lines are not as crisp... but its 7.7s in the cowling are nicer), but it has an cockpit interior and sliding canopy which are huge bonuses. However Airfix is not even in the same class with the Fine molds zero... then again most small 1/72 kits aren't. It does not the engine detail, dropped flaps, nearly as detailed cockpit or a whole bunch of other features. I suspect the Tamiya kit will be much closer to the FM kit, but with some features missing (like droppable flaps).

Edited December 31, 2011 by -Neu-

[markmarples]

I don't have all three in front of me, but to me the Airfix zero's exterior is slightly inferior to the Hasegawa kit (its missing some of the details and the lines are not as crisp), but it has an cockpit interior and sliding canopy which are huge bonuses. However Airfix is not even in the same class with the Fine molds zero... then again most small 1/72 kits aren't. It does not the engine detail, dropped flaps, nearly as detailed cockpit or a whole bunch of other features. I suspect the Tamiya kit will be much closer to the FM kit, but with some features missing (like droppable flaps).

is that the new release NEW tool or the older one?

[-Neu-]

Actually I do believe the Academy kit is cheapest here with a list of 800Â¥ followed by Tamiya at 1000Â¥ and the Hasegawa white box P-51D at 1200Â¥. But good luck finding the Academy kit at the LHS here unless perhaps you live in Tokyo or Osaka and have a mega hobby shop close by. Can't recall seeing an Airfix Mustang though I can't say I've ever bothered to look with Tamiya/Hase being so cheap anyway.

Hah, you're right, I guess I misremembered it. I was thinking it was 900 Hasegawa, and 1000 for Tamiya. The airfix mustang is forthcoming this year.

[-Neu-]

is that the new release NEW tool or the older one?

The new one of course. I've got a project in mind later this year to do the deck of the Akagi on Dec. 7th and I've been buying up Zeros... I've got a few FM ones, but I needed a few more for "background" and wondered about the Airfix kit.

Edited December 31, 2011 by -Neu-