New Airfix Magazine

[Eric Mc]

dr_gn said:

Eric Mc said:

Airfix are doing the right thing. They are going back through their original best sellers and manufacturing new technology moulds of the old favourites.

I'm a bit uneasy about them packaging - by todays standard - crap old models (Airacobra, Walrus etc) in all-new fancy boxes along with their new releases. I know other manufacturers (Revell etc) are guilty of the same to an extent, but I reckon Airfix are pushing what's acceptable...

At least they could leave the old models in the older packaging so people would have a chance of realising what they were in for? If I was new to modelling and bought an 2010 state-of-the-art packaged Airfix kit that was in fact a 1960's moulding, it would probably put me off modelling for life.

You know what, I don't think someone of 7 or 8 years old building their first couple of models will really cares that much. The model will be assembled in about ten minutes flat and may or may not be painted.
However, I think a beginner of 13 or 14 year old will have a different view point and MIGHT be put off.
And, as long as the prices are kept under about £6.00 per kit, I don't think the policy is too misguided. I agree that a couple of the early Airfix kits should be oput to bed for good - such as the Gladiator and old mould 110C.

Revell are just as guilty and even I have been caught out. They have recently re-released their 1960s vintage P-51D, Me109E,, Ju88 and Me110E - all crude by modern standards and just as rough as some of the aerly Airfixes.
Revell are a bit different to Airfix in that they have inherited lots of moulds from other manufacturers which means that their old "new" releases" can be very different in quality and methods of assembly. On the whole, their old Matchbox and Monogram mould models are fairly good and go together quite well. Their OWN old moulds are poor and akin to early Airfix crudity.

[dr_gn]

Eric Mc said:

dr_gn said:

Eric Mc said:

Airfix are doing the right thing. They are going back through their original best sellers and manufacturing new technology moulds of the old favourites.

I'm a bit uneasy about them packaging - by todays standard - crap old models (Airacobra, Walrus etc) in all-new fancy boxes along with their new releases. I know other manufacturers (Revell etc) are guilty of the same to an extent, but I reckon Airfix are pushing what's acceptable...

At least they could leave the old models in the older packaging so people would have a chance of realising what they were in for? If I was new to modelling and bought an 2010 state-of-the-art packaged Airfix kit that was in fact a 1960's moulding, it would probably put me off modelling for life.

Revell are just as guilty and even I have been caught out. They have recently re-released their 1960s vintage P-51D, Me109E,, Ju88 and Me110E - all crude by modern standards and just as rough as some of the aerly Airfixes.
Revell are a bit different to Airfix in that they have inherited lots of moulds from other manufacturers which means that their old "new" releases" can be very different in quality and methods of assembly. On the whole, their old Matchbox and Monogram mould models are fairly good and go together quite well. Their OWN old moulds are poor and akin to early Airfix crudity.

Hmmm, At least with their really old ones, Revell market them as "Revell Classics". I built the Convair Tradewind not long ago from that series and even though it was clearly an old mould, it went together extremely well.

I'm not sure about the quality of 1960's Revell models being *that* poor in general: I have a small collection of 1:72 fighters from that era, still boxed and I must say the quality is outstanding. I've built the SE5a and Stearman recently, both are really excellent. This could well be because the moulds were still new when 'my' models were made. I've got a Fokker D-VII in 1980's guise somewhere, I will have a look at that and see how it compares with an original.

As you might have guessed I'm a big fan of Matchbox, and would choose an EBay Matchbox model any day over the equivalent new/old Airfix item, I'm thinking Walrus, Bf109E, Spitfire, Gladiator etc etc. They are almost always clean mouldings and they fit.

[Eric Mc]

Revell have a confusing policy with their old moulds. Some (particularly the 1950s non-standard scale models) are released as Classics with reproductions of their original artwork. Others are released in modern style packaging and can catch you out.

I've already given the examples of few that have caught me out recently. The 109E P51D and Ju88 are genuinely not that good and on a par with Airfix geriatrics. The 110E isn't too bad (being an old Monogram mould). I see the Bearcat was also recently re-released and that is also a neat little model - again being a Monogram mould. Monogram were ahead of most manufacturers regarding quality of moulding and fit 40 plus years ago and the Revell reissues of these old Monogram models are very welcome.

[dr_gn]

Eric Mc said:

Revell have a confusing policy with their old moulds. Some (particularly the 1950s non-standard scale models) are released as Classics with reproductions of their original artwork. Others are released in modern style packaging and can catch you out.

I've already given the examples of few that have caught me out recently. The 109E P51D and Ju88 are genuinely not that good and on a par with Airfix geriatrics. The 110E isn't too bad (being an old Monogram mould). I see the Bearcat was also recently re-released and that is also a neat little model - again being a Monogram mould. Monogram were ahead of most manufacturers regarding quality of moulding and fit 40 plus years ago and the Revell reissues of these old Monogram models are very welcome.

Freddytin sent me a very old Monogram Mustang P-51D 1:72, along with the old Revell kits. It is indeed a beautiful moulding.

[Eric Mc]

He sent me the Bearcat - and now Revell have re-released it Typical.

Some model magazines are quoting in their reviews of the Bearcat that it was first issued in 1975. I am pretty sure that it is older than that - more like 1968 or 1969. For their time, these Monogram modelsd were way ahead of the mainstream - with the possible exception of Tamiya who started with high standards and have kept to them ever since.

[dr_gn]

Eric Mc said:

He sent me the Bearcat - and now Revell have re-released it Typical.

Some model magazines are quoting in their reviews of the Bearcat that it was first issued in 1975. I am pretty sure that it is older than that - more like 1968 or 1969. For their time, these Monogram modelsd were way ahead of the mainstream - with the possible exception of Tamiya who started with high standards and have kept to them ever since.

I wonder what the cost of re-furbishing old moulds is? The most recent Airfix models I built are the Sunderland and a Jetstream. Both are not commonly modelled subjects, and both could be made into superb kits if only the moulds were updated. Obviously they exist, so why not reverse engineer them into a CAD package, add decent surface details and machine new moulds? It must be possible becasue there are many limited run injection moulded models about these days, made by small companies. Airfix could then genuinely market them as 'new'. I'd definitely buy them if that was the case.

[Eric Mc]

Good point.

Some Airfix "classics" are pretty unique and could do with a serious makeover. My candidates would be -

Bristol Blenheim IV
Fairey Battle
Boulton Paul Defiant
Short Sunderland
Short Stirling
Handley Page Halifax

I notice that over the past ten years or so, MPM/Special Hobby have released kits which seem to be based on teh Airfix catalogue - but they are short run and do cost at least three times as much as the Airfix equivalent. They are scheduled to release a new Sunderland this year - but it will cost at least £50.00 I reckon.

[dr_gn]

Eric Mc said:

Good point.

Some Airfix "classics" are pretty unique and could do with a serious makeover. My candidates would be -

Bristol Blenheim IV
Fairey Battle
Boulton Paul Defiant
Short Sunderland
Short Stirling
Handley Page Halifax

I notice that over the past ten years or so, MPM/Special Hobby have released kits which seem to be based on teh Airfix catalogue - but they are short run and do cost at least three times as much as the Airfix equivalent. They are scheduled to release a new Sunderland this year - but it will cost at least £50.00 I reckon.

Yep, I'd add the Jetstream and Hampden. Matchbox did a half decent Halifax.

The fact that a new Sunderland is a) Required, b) Expensive and c) A very popular subject, suggests that an Airfix re-furb might have been worth looking at.

[Eric Mc]

I have bothe the Marchbox/Revell Halifax in my unbuilt pile as well as the AIrfix one.

The Matchbox one is definitely the easier one to build but it has a horrendously wrong cockpit canopy which requires a major cut and fix job to correct.

The Airfix example is actually more accurate (as is often the case with Airfix) but festooned with rivets suffers from poor fit.

Valom issued a much more modern Hampden (and Hereford) in the past two years but even though it is a much more sophisticated model than the Airfix example, it is MUCH more expensive (ca. £30.00) and has an appallingly badly fitting set of canopies and nose glazing.

[The_Jackal]

lol whatever happened to picking a kit based on the picture on the front!
Old School style....

[Eric Mc]

The_Jackal said:

lol whatever happened to picking a kit based on the picture on the front!
Old School style....

It's back.

Most model manufacturers have returned to old style "action" depictions on their boxes. The new Airfix box art is almost as good as the great days of Roy Cross (whatever about the actual quality of the kit contained within).

[SlipStream77]

This link might be of interest to some, it lists several of the different modelling magazine available in the past.

http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/mags/uk/ukmag05.htm

I was in a second hand bookshop recently and found a bound edition of "Royal Air Force Flying Review" 1955-1956. It's a great magazine, lots of technical information, cutaways, pilot's stories and classic 50's advertisements.

You can find them on ebay..

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p390...

[mybrainhurts]

Eric Mc said:

It will be interesting to0 see how it works out .

Someone under the desk, rubbing your leg, Eric...?

[Eric Mc]

mybrainhurts said:

Eric Mc said:

It will be interesting to0 see how it works out .

Someone under the desk, rubbing your leg, Eric...?

I wish.

[mybrainhurts]

[dr_gn]

Looks like Model Aviation Wolrd's gone down the st pan:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showt...

Ironic really: it was my favourite model magazine.

[Eric Mc]

Yeah - I had a subscription and I got the "great news" letter a week ago. I liked it too. Didn't last that long p only a year or so.

Maybe the market really is saturated now.

Oh well.

[dr_gn]

Eric Mc said:

Yeah - I had a subscription and I got the "great news" letter a week ago. I liked it too. Didn't last that long p only a year or so.

Maybe the market really is saturated now.

Oh well.

Strange time to launch the Airfix magazine then? also strange about MAW, becasue there are a few model magazines out there that are probably around 80% adverts (or at least adverts + 'new release' info). Why would anyone buy them over MAW I wonder?

[Eric Mc]

dr_gn said:

Eric Mc said:

Yeah - I had a subscription and I got the "great news" letter a week ago. I liked it too. Didn't last that long p only a year or so.

Maybe the market really is saturated now.

Oh well.

Strange time to launch the Airfix magazine then? also strange about MAW, becasue there are a few model magazines out there that are probably around 80% adverts (or at least adverts + 'new release' info). Why would anyone buy them over MAW I wonder?

The Airfix magazine will be heavilly supported by the company. Model Airplane International is part of the Tamiya magazine empire. Scale Aviation Modelling International and Military Aviation Monthly have sponsored articles.

I think industry support is part of the reason why those three keep going.

[dr_gn]

Eric Mc said:

dr_gn said:

Eric Mc said:

Yeah - I had a subscription and I got the "great news" letter a week ago. I liked it too. Didn't last that long p only a year or so.

Maybe the market really is saturated now.

Oh well.

Strange time to launch the Airfix magazine then? also strange about MAW, becasue there are a few model magazines out there that are probably around 80% adverts (or at least adverts + 'new release' info). Why would anyone buy them over MAW I wonder?

The Airfix magazine will be heavilly supported by the company. Model Airplane International is part of the Tamiya magazine empire. Scale Aviation Modelling International and Military Aviation Monthly have sponsored articles.

I think industry support is part of the reason why those three keep going.

Just looked through the last issue of MAW (at the back issues) and it seems like it will have had a 12 issue run. I wonder if it was always always financed as a one year trial ?